Life Notes of The Adopted Daughter of Tony Stark
by Dragon-Child of Lightning
Summary: When Joyceann, a supposed mutant, is swept from her street life in to the world of S.H.I.E.l.D. and NEST, her life is changed for the better when Tony Stark claims her as a long lost adopted daughter. But when secrets & surprises are basically around every corner, can Joyceann find out who she really is, & what she is? (1st story in Life Notes of a Storm Tamer series; OCs are mine)
1. Chapter 1: How The Lost Get Found

Life Notes of the Adopted Daughter of Tony Stark

By Dragon-Child of Lightning

Chapter One: How The Lost Get Found

My name is Joyceann. Joyceann Stark. Well, that's not my real last name. And honestly, reality is sort of a lost concept for me. Not making any sense, am I? But on a side note and more positive one, I was found by S.H.I.E.L.D., raised by S.H.I.E.L.D., ever since I was pulled off the streets of New York.

Nick Fury, Agent Phil "Supposed-to-be Dead" Coulson, Agent Maria Hill, Thor and many other Asgardians, Tony Stark, and Pepper Potts have been my supporting adults for the past two years I've been actually involved with S.H.I.E.L.D.; because a few years ago, the streets of New York and mutant homes were my home. So, in all, I haven't remembered anything but the past couple years; and not even that.

If you're reading my story, then good for you. You believe in all the conspiracy stuff the government tries to hide. Mutants, super soldiers, supernatural beings, alien robots… I could go on.

But, if I am telling you this story, I've remembered; right? You'll want to know what happened like everyone else I've told. And I will, so don't get over excited; my life is more traumatic then terrific sometimes. Sometimes.  
Let's start when the Battle of New York happened. Yes, I lived through it. I was even confronted by Loki and yes I was attacked. You can see where this story of mine is going, can't you? None the less, I survived. Only one thing, (well, I guess two; the other you'll find out later), kept me from dying: my powers.

These powers have kept me on the street and away from any good permanent home. Oh, you want to know what they are, don't you? Very well. It's not exactly something I can hide to easily anyway.

To get the ball rolling on this freak show, I possess wings, horns, and a tail. Yep, the whole package. I have three main forms for the wings. They change in and out, depending on mood, weather, will, etc. I honestly like to change them out by will because they're just so damn awesome.  
My most used wings are dragon wings. They're normally a leathery material and change into something that mimics an element dragon's wings. The elements being fire, water, earth, air, etc.; along with a bunch of subgroups like sand, ice, death, life, and so on. One of my other forms is like an angel, I guess. Feathered, decorated like the dusk with silvery specks near the edges and a savage sunset at the bottom. Striking, if you ask me. Last are my mecha wings. Four separated wings of metal for when I get lazy and don't want to flap. They emit something like visible sound wave, tinted blue that pounds the air around me; in this, keeping me a float.

My tail and horns change too, but not as much. My horns are normally ivory white and drop all the way to my waist, extending at will. Yes, I know that's weird. My tail is like a normal dragon's tail; but instead of being pointed like an arrow head, it's a dull and rounded type that changes its color like a chameleon's can.

Now onto my claws. I have regular claws on my hands that retract like a cat's can, but it's the ones _in_ my hands you should know about. They're similar to steak knives; sharp, indestructible, can slash through anything. Cool, right; I'm like Wolverine. Oh who am I kidding, I'm nothing like Wolverine.

But the dodgiest part of me is my electricity. I can manipulate, create, and sabotage, anything electricity related. Even bio-electricity, (that's human electricity). I have complete control; or at least I think I do. It has gotten stronger over the years I remember. So strong, well, I think I could kill hundreds of people in one fell swoop and a single bolt. I'm horrified one day I will.

Moving on, there's also the telekinesis. That's the power to move things with your mind basically. It comes in handy.  
Not to rub in your face, but I can basically read minds too. And I know I'm taking forever to describe one little subject, but please bear with me.  
And if you must know about my other _prime_ power, read on. I can't really explain it here, it wouldn't belong; it's quite _alien_.

Well, let me officially start this story then. The Battle of New York is where we begin; well, just before it that is. Detail is needed here. So, picture this, it started off a normal day for someone like me. I was a street singer. So, that day I just happened to choose to play on the street right next to Stark Tower, playing my jet black and electric blue "me-powered" guitar. My silver hair was up, streaked black, blue, and purple. My red elbow length fishnet gloves strummed along to a song I wrote called "All's Fair (Love, Hate, and War). A black leather jacket covered my crimson and sapphire sleeveless shirt and my honking big wings. The black jeans I wore contrasted with the snowy boots I was wearing. I had a multitude of only 15, but all were into the song. Some danced, some sat and listened, and the ones who had come before sang along. I loved every minute of, soaking it in like I was a sponge.

Then hell broke loose like a storm in waiting.

Above the Stark Tower, a swirling blue portal with a black center broke opened. At first, we all just started at it, like any normal human would. But people started screaming and panicking and running for cover when strange metal aliens started coming through the portal from where ever they came from. I, startled by all this myself, quickly packed my stuff, unplugging different cords, and then shrank it. Yes, I can do that, too. I commanded my small crowd to run for the hills with no avail; when they stared at me like, 'who died and made you the boss?', I flared my wings, which had come out of concealment, and yelled for them to get out of harm's way. To be honest, I don't know what scared my listeners more right then; the space invader coming from the portal, or me. I couldn't help it though, I've been programmed to protect. I don't know why I felt that way, but it was implanted in my brain like a voice for some reason; and I listened to it every time.  
When everyone was gone I headed out, dubbing it too dangerous to stick around. I masked my equipment in a crook by Stark Tower; altering my wings into the largest pair I had, my Sky Dragon Wings, I took to the skies, staying particularly low, even though it was a bit of a pain to steer properly with all the normos running a-muck, aliens darting to and fro, and not to mention New York's alleyways were small and not very straightforward to pilot threw. But these massive wings of mine can help me fly from what seemed like zero to one hundred in merely two seconds.

After a while and great deal of flying to avoid the freaky aliens, I relocated to a more remote part to hide. The shadows seemed like my best option I and started making my why forward to what seemed like an abandoned building. The building itself had been abandoned for at least a month before I was standing in front of it right then.  
Unfortunately, my plan wasn't going to work; whatever it was jumped out at me from the building said earlier were fairly good sized (a foot or two taller than a normal sized human) and ready to fight.

Guess the building wasn't so abandoned after all.

I gawked wide-eyed at the aliens at first, startled at their sudden appearance. Looking behind the metal creatures, I saw a crowd of people, shivering in fear. I knew I had to help them escape the invading aliens, but pressure of the moment frizzed my brain.  
I tried to reach out and into the minds of the five, lumbering, mechanic, and not to mention hideous beings. I couldn't feel anything. Their minds were like non-sentient computers, nothing was going through them except orders; orders to kill.

Clearly seen as a threat, the extraterrestrials charged towards me. The people screamed in terror. I heard a child's cry mixed in with the adults. That's when I knew I _had_ to take action then and help the trapped citizens, or they would all be killed. You could say I was given a wake up call. The aliens charged their weapons, aiming them at me; in which I jumped just as they fired. Somehow, none of the freak-a-zooids hit each other in cross fire. Landing on the shoulders of the nearest alien soldier, I stabbed my fingers into its neck joint and ripped wires out. It went dead and collapsed underneath me.

_A hero!_ Someone thought in the pack of people, this voice feminine and small. I grinned a slyly. Another solider yelled something in a foreign language, which apparently translated into "Aim better at the human," because all of a sudden, the discharge of open fire became ten times more accurate. I yelped in surprise as one 'bullet' grazed my left shoulder. After the outcome of the barrage, I was honestly more annoyed then scared.

Taking flight again, I rammed two more aliens like I was in a game of red rover. My wings clobbered them in the head and sent them flying backwards; their heads flew off from the force. The last two extraterrestrials, who were at this point running out of options, dashed over to the crowd of people; pointing their guns towards the bystanders in trouble. They harshly barked something that I didn't understand. But with the guns charging, I knew exactly what they had said: Surrender or they die.

I growled in frustration, flicking my steak knives in and out; feeling the cold metal and imaging sinking it into one of the aliens. These people were innocent of doing anything to hinder the aliens' plans; but maybe that was just it. These innocent folks were only something the invaders could run over and kill; the weaker becoming building blocks for the stronger. That logic honestly never has made sense to me. From what I know about life, the weak lead the strong; how many Sunday school stories explain that? Lots.

Finally, I raised my hands above my head. "I get the gist; now put the big guns away and I'll stop attacking you bozos. Deal? There's no need for casualties."

I'm not quite sure they ever understood a word of what I said, but the space invaders backed away from the crowd but kept their weapons up and ready. They shouted something at me again, this time I understood.

"You Halcyon?" asked one in a gruff accent. He (I'm going to at least call it a he) had a long scar running down the right side of his face. I dubbed him Scar-face.

I glared at him, having no idea what he meant.

"ID number 4h7dD34, she has no memory; Commander Loki said," the other said; his English I may add sounded like he was coughing up a hair ball. He had acid burn like scars on the left side of his face. He shall be known as Acid.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"We are here to conquer," Scar-face said in a matter 'o fact tone.

_Obviously,_ I thought. "No why are you** here**; specifically here I mean."

"You." I honestly felt like choking the aliens out right then and there.

"Nonsense," I said, trying a more mature approach. "Now if you leave and don't attack the innocent citizens over there," I flicked my hand at the mob of people, who looked clueless for some reason, "I will then leave you unscathed. Do you understand or do I need to terminate you right here?"

"We will leave, but so will you," Acid replied. "You must come with us. Orders."

"BS," I said, waving off their "offer." The aliens looked confused at the statement. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Orders," Acid said again, this time a little more aggressively.

"Make. Me." I growled. I finally took notice that the three of us were unconsciously circling each other. Thinking deeply for a moment, I knew I still was at a disadvantage. The aliens still could attack the small crowd of New Yorkers any moment; their shifty eyes jumping around, looking for more advantages. Thing was, their "brains" were so simple that I knew their every move; one minute before they knew.

Scar-face lunged at my right, shoving out his gun like a bayonet. I slinked down quickly, avoiding the horrible wound I would've received. Scar-face pivoted around, trying to stab at my face this time. I swiped it away with the palm of my hand and jabbed my other into Scar-face's neck cavity. With the ripping of more wires and electrocution, Scar-face fell easily.  
Acid was the last one standing now. He stood stupidly eight feet away from me.

"No more fight. You come and no more fight," Acid said, his grammar even worse from his horrible speech pattern. _He's trying to rush this_, I thought. But why? His mind was an open book; what could've slipped past me?

Instead of complying with the alien's request, I rush forward and caught Acid by surprise as I rammed my metal claws into him and slashed threw, electrocuting his circuits for good measure.. Like his other comrades, he collapsed in a heap of metal.

"Love doing business with you freaks," I chirped, saluting like I was in some anime. I felt so stupid.

* * *

The shadows always contained secrets. And today was no different. In the shadows near the abandoned building, a figure watched as the battle played out. He was not one to always get his hands dirty, and today was no different. His minions were doing the hard part first, while he would do the "other part" later.

He pouted a little at Chitauri left and their horrible grammar, not that he could blame them. After all, Cybertronian was one of the hardest languages to learn. It wasn't that learning it itself was hard, pronunciation was the problem. Even _he_ was surprised that little Halcyon still knew as much as she did.

None the less, he still knew what was going on; he understood the conversation. The things he had learned during his self-exile still astounded him; to a point that was.

Halcyon (or Joyceann) circled his minions, growling slightly. This could've gone on for a while, but with how she totaled the other three… he gave no more than probably ten minutes tops for the rest of the remaining Chitauris' lives.

As predicted, the remaining two Chitauri were eliminated but in less than seven minutes. The first had its neck wires stripped and the second was slashed and electrocuted_. Put out of commission to soon_, he thought, shaking his head. Being able to contact the Chitauri in an instant wasn't going to help the situation at the moment. He needed a better plan. But all he could think of was an actual confrontation.  
But maybe that was the answer.

_Confronting Halcyon maybe the only way_, he thought. _She has no way of knowing who I really am. And she won't freak out like the others_.

"I guess it is the only way," he sighed. He looked up again to see Joyceann talking to a young Midgardian girl, and both were obviously confused. Taking a deep breath and holding on tightly to his golden weapon, he stepped out of the shadows, not sure if his was ready.

* * *

With a now collapsed team of extraterrestrials, a feeling of relief over took my senses. I walked over to the crowd of New Yorkers (Who clapped for me; pride level at an all-time high) to let them know it was safe to go. Each one thanked me profusely as they left. I felt like collapsing out of exhaustion till…

"Um, Miss?" asked a small voice. I turned to see a young, petite girl, the one who had thought I was a hero. She had a sweet round face with round, grey eyes. Her mother was a few feet away.

"Yes?" I answered.

"What were you saying earlier?"

I smiled a bit. "Did I say something you didn't understand?"

"No. What did you say?"

"I don't think I quite understand what you mean."

"Young lady, my daughter means she didn't understand the language you were speaking," the mother of the said girl answered, coming up to me to clarify the mishap.

"I was speaking English; wasn't I?"

"Young lady, I am a language expert from Harvard. That wasn't English or any known language. In other words, you were speaking an alien language."

I blinked in surprise. An alien language; how was that possible? The only languages I knew were English and a little bit of basic Spanish. But an entire language, not even from this planet…

What was even more disturbing, the aliens didn't seem to have any basic grammar about… whatever language I was speaking. So did that mean the aliens just had bad grammar, or was the language not even theirs?

"Well I'm just glad you're ok then," I said smiling sweetly, wanting to change the subject. The girl smiled as well and giggled a little.

The girl pointed at one of the decapitated alien heads. "Why did they try to hurt us? Why are they here?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. The scarred one said it was because of me. But I honestly think it was because they wanted to get their butts handed to them," I joked.

The girl giggled some more. I smiled slyly and walked over to the disembodied head.

"Don't mess with me or New York," I yelled with a hint pride, kicking one of the alien heads into the air. It landed a few feet away, clanking as it fell back to Earth. The young girl laughed harder and her mother smiled. I beamed with my hands on my hips, exceptionally proud of myself. That was until _he_ came into the scene. He clapped slowly and ominously, his thoughts showing me what he thought. I saw threw his piercing green eyes and felt what he felt. Revenge, a want to belong, a child in search for someone to care for him… His presence sent shivers up my spine.

"Very good," he said in a cold, slippery voice. "You took on the Chitauri head on; you did it… exceptionally fast too. Though I saw the hesitation when they went after the humans."

"Do I know you?" I asked, paranoia making me throwing out my claws, crackling and bursting with electricity as if they were on a Jacob's Latter. I turned to the mother and her daughter. _Go; get to somewhere safe_, I thought to the taller. She nodded as if she was used to a telepath and hurried herself and her daughter away from the area. The man in green didn't regard them whatsoever.

"Well, yes. And you should know. But then again, maybe not. Besides that, it's good to see you again," the man hesitated a bit, thinking of the right word to say. "Sister."

"Excuse me; sister? HA! Who are you? If you sent those freaky aliens after me, was it test to see who could kill who the fastest? Oh wait no, I get it, you just wanted to _kill innocent people_!" I snapped back, though a sense of unease overtook me, like I had seen him before. I didn't feel as confident as I normally did. The way he said sister chilled me to the bone. Or the chill came from him, as if it was literally emitting from him. "Seriously though, who are you; have I seen you ever before?"

"I'm Loki, your future king. And no, you have never seen me before," Loki answered, revealing a golden staff that smoldered cerulean at the top, from behind his back. He smirked craftily. "I know who you are, but can you tell me?"

It was my turn to smile then. For one, he was lying about having never seen him before. Two, threatening me was a death wish he just granted. I floated three feet off the ground, effortlessly flapping my big wings; claws out, electricity sparking, and love to protect my city ready.  
"Well, if you're so clueless I'll tell you. I am Joyceann Brokenheart. I'm a self-named mutant of New York City and you were stupid enough to go against me. I'm this world's protector, because I've been programmed to do just that: protect." I raised my claws and pointed at him like they were swords. "So, get ready to pay the fee for coming."

Ah, yes; my confidence had returned.

* * *

Up near the top of a broken and abandoned building, a pair of tranquil, amber eyes watched as Joyceann was confronted by Loki. S_he's absolutely stunning,_ he thought, than quickly shook off the feeling. _Ugh, stop thinking unnecessary thoughts; do something productive and contact help._ The boy with amber eyes pulled out a small dull red Bluetooth and attached it to his ear. He tapped it twice, summoning three (technically four) completely different forces.

The first two forces touched down after a moment, lingering still to the shadows so their leathery wings and snouts couldn't be seen.

"Fireheart… We have to stop them; with Loki's new powers and her untamed ones…" a tenor feminine voice growled softly, trailing off at the end.

_Don't remind me_. "For now let's wait; I need to know more of what is happening," whispered the boy with white hair.

"Happening, shappning. We need to rescue her," replied another voice.

He didn't know what aggravated him more, the dragon's impatient plea, or Loki's stupidity. Neither the less, Fireheart would wait for orders; or for a plan to pop into his head.

The other two forces Fireheart had called arrived soon after; one in a red and gold shiny metal suit, the other holding a powerful, but heavy hammer. Both were obviously surprised to be pulled away from the battle so quickly and suddenly; even more so surprised to see the winged girl.

"It- it can't be. But it is. Halcyon…" Thor said drifting a bit. Until recently, Loki was thought to be dead. Now, he was here, attempting to take control of New York; and then the world. But that wasn't what Thor was worried about. The girl known by many names was his adopted sister.  
To say the least, wouldn't it disturb you too, if your whole adopted family was together and were going to try to kill each other any minute?

Iron Man, or Tony Stark, had J.A.R.V.I.S., his battle computer/home security system, run a diagnostic on Joyceann/Halcyon/Thunderheart from his perch on the decomposing building.

"Healthy, mobile, and functional. I'd say she is in perfect condition; but I do warn that her aggression levels are rather high now, sir," reported J.A.R.V.I.S.  
"Yeah well don't state the obvious J.A.R.V.I.S. One question though, where did she get the hair coloring?" asked Tony, taking notice of the black, blue, and purple streaks in Joyceann's hair.

"Stark, this is Joyce; she can do practically everything. Guess how," Fireheart murmured, slightly irritated at the question. A long black, white, and grey neck stuck itself out of the deep shadows finally and looked at its human with sharp and wise garnet eyes.

"Terrence; what do you plan to do?" asked the second dragon and other voice in a level, masculine growl. He breathed a miniature ring of smoke from its nostrils.

The tawny eyed boy, who was established as Terrence, considered the possibilities for a moment, and then shrugged. "Fury will want to know, for one." He turned and faced all four of his comrades. "Think of something useful while I contact the Director." He then turned and ignored his companions.

"Bossy isn't he?" Iron Man said quietly to Thor.

"As if you aren't worried too?" Thor said in a monotone voice.

Terrence trekked a few feet away, obviously for a few moments of privacy. Satisfied with the distance, Fireheart tapped his Bluetooth again, pressing the small button till a holographic screen curved in front of his face and eyes. The screen organized itself instantaneously. When organizing was done, Terrence thought, _Call Director Nick Fury._

A moment befell as someone from S.H.I.E.L.D's Helicarrier communication staff informed Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., that he had a call waiting for him. Nick rushed himself to captain's place on the Helicarrier's inside. The picture of a boy with long white hair, a white battle suit with red stripes, and the Stark Holo-Glasses appeared as a hologram.

On Terrence's end, a view of Nick Fury appeared; his signature scowl and eye patch in high detail. The Helicarrier was buzzing with activity in the background.

"Fireheart, you better have a good reason to drag out Thor and Stark from the battle and contact me now of all times," demanded an aggravated Fury.

"Sir, I'm pretty sure you would want to know about this. And trust me, Thor and Tony needed to see this too."

"Well then? Give me your apparent, 'good reason.'"

"Sir, we've found the 'Fallen Angel'," Terrence clarified, coughing a little at the end. Fury didn't respond for a moment. He looked to Agent Maria Hill, who was behind him.

"Get me a visual on Fireheart's location and see if you can contact Ms. Potts; if you are able to, tell her the 'Fallen Angel' is officially back on our radar." Agent Hill nodded and got right to it.

Fury turned back to the screen. "Terrence, I know you miss her, but, do not, I repeat, do NOT, engage her right now. What is she doing anyway?"

"Well... Uh, she's," Fireheart paused, looking back at Joyceann and Loki. He could see Joyceann was nervous; Loki could do that to people. Loki was playing it to his advantage very well. "She's been confronted by Loki. He's inflicted no damage so far, but that could change."

Nick Fury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of course, Loki had gone to find his little adopted sister. Had that been a slight factor in this whole invasion? Fury really didn't know. Or really care. All he knew is that Loki was invading Earth, Nick and so many others' home.

"Sir, orders?" Fireheart questioned, a little concerned. Nick Fury being unusually silent wasn't normally a good thing.

Thor and Tony had stopped talking and were watching Terrence for a reaction.

Fury returned then, contacting all five of the warriors threw earpieces provided by Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. "Your orders are to wait and watch to see what happens. Do not engage unless major physical mutilation from the crazy green Asgardian is afflicted on the 'Fallen Angel.'"

Thor snorted lightly. "Nick Fury, Loki will attack her, wither she's his family or not; you know that." The others nodded in agreement. Joyce had already started defending herself and had been for about seven minutes.

"Thor," Nick's voice warned. "There isn't time for that sort of talk; yes I know Loki will attack, no need to point out the obvious."

The Asgardian quieted and backed down while Iron Man spoke up. "Got it Fury, over and out. And by the way, I told J.A.R.V.I.S. that too."

Not caring about what Tony had to say, Nick Fury signed off his end just as Maria Hill came back.

"Sir," she said. "We cannot contact Ms. Potts. Should we patch into her plane and-"

Fury held up his hand. "No, don't push yourself. I hate to say it, but Joyceann isn't our main priority; it's Loki and his supposed Doomsday. We'll just work with what we have for now; we have enough worries as it is. "Agent Hill nodded. Wither either agents wanted to admit it or not, they were nervous as heck.

Terrence finally sighed in relief on his side as the screen shut down; orders; finally.

"I honestly don't appreciate it when people call my brother crazy," sighed Thor.

"Like you don't at times," teased the reptile with garnet eyes, trying to lift the mood. Everyone laughed a little at that.

But just as things had steadied, a scream of terror and shock and pain erupted from the scene down below.


	2. Chapter 2: Heroes and Demons

Life Notes of the Adopted Daughter of Tony Stark

By Dragon Child of Lightning

Chapter 2: Heroes and Demons

_Eight minutes before the scream_

Loki was the first to attack, which led me to strike as well. The Asgardian was fast, but I knew I could out do him speed wise. He was fighting with a style I wasn't too familiar with, but I caught on soon enough. It was a sort of dance; graceful in a violent way. Powerful, yet soft. I couldn't quite put a name to it, but I knew I knew this style's name.  
Even though his scepter was used a lot in his attacks, occasionally, he would use his own two arms and legs to lash out at me.

"You know, if you didn't step on your back foot so much and put some on your weight front, you'd be faster," I said, readying another fighting stance.

"Oh really?" Loki did as I suggested and became faster; by a whole half a second.

I swerved around him, looking for a blind spot, or even a weakness. Loki struck out with his scepter again to find only air. Even though he was faster, I was faster still.

Loki obviously knew my style of battle as well. He tried mirroring me, only to get knocked over with a bolt of lightning.

"Clearly, you have control issues with that electricity of yours still," Loki moaned standing up. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm like a flippin' storm; I'm as random as it gets," I said, keeping my distance from Loki.

"You're still annoying as ever too."

Loki collapsed on the ground as I hit him again with a few more bolts of lightning. Annoyed, I rose off the ground with a few big flaps; I had switched my wings to the only pair of metal wings I had. I hovered somewhat silently, the strange blue energy that blasted out of the wings' crevices illuminating the space behind me.

Note to self: Loki can be a really bad ass fighter with that staff of his. He used the staff as if he had practiced with it all his life. It was supernatural almost. Something told me though that that staff was newer addition.

"But you are, stronger, then before. I like it," Loki growled getting up, blasting a bolt of energy. _What is he talking about_, I wondered, slashing at his face with my claws. He was creeping me out. The thing was, I had never seen him before today; but he was acting like he had always known me. Then again, there was something faintly familiar about him. There was a sliver of possibility we've met in the past, but I just didn't recall it. I knew earlier when he said, 'no, we haven't met before,' was a complete lie; I just knew it.

"Well I guess I'll have to scan my memory to find out how I even know you," I growled back sarcastically with my eyes narrowed and my face plastered with a sly smile. "Look creep-o, you may think I'm some servant to command around when you finally get me on my knees." I paced a few steps around Loki as he lashed out with his staff again. "Truth is you're an old fart who sounds like a perverted rapist. And I, well, I will slip from your grasp every time old man."

Loki looked absolutely enraged. "Why you; how dare you respect your future king like **THAT**?!" roared Loki. Glancing at his conscious, I caught him thinking, _And I'm not old!_ I smiled. Aggravation of others is one of my specialties. Besides, this guy seemed really sensitive; but who wouldn't be if you told them that? He raised his staff and soon enough a chariot, occupied by a functioning Chitauri, came flying by. As he hopped on, I rose higher to match his height in the air.

"You aren't the only one that can fly now," the outcast-of-an Asgardian sneered.

"Like I give a butt and two slags. YOU were the one stupid enough to invade Earth expecting it to completely and utterly defenseless. Oh wait, you knew there was some type of defense system did you?" Ah, it was fun to watch him squirm; apparently he did know Earth had its own little defense system. And even if he didn't, this plan of his was stupid and sure to be foiled no matter what.

But Loki righted himself. "Oh but I did know; I expected the Avengers though, not you." He shot another blast of blue energy. I dodged with ease; not knowing wither to be offended or relieved at that comment. But, who or what are the Avengers?

Loki continued, eyeing me a little. "I say though, where did you get that necklace?"

I panicked a little on the inside, but I stayed much calmer on the outside. "Excuse me?"

"That necklace; that gold thing hanging on your neck?"

"What about it?" I asked apprehensively, clutching the golden pendant's charm. The only information I had on this necklace was that I'd had it ever since I woke up in the streets the first time. I didn't know why, but I had a really strong attachment for it and had a sentimental value. But I just couldn't place my feelings on why I did.

"It's spectacular; what can you not take a simple compliment?"

"It's the compliment I'm concerned about," I hissed.

Back then, I didn't know what Loki was thinking. But now, I know he was truly surprised that I had that necklace. I will of course explain later on why.

"So that closes the case on that mystery," I said, changing the subject.

"On what?" Loki asked.

"You are a perv."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Really; my necklace? Nice excuse. As if you're looking at the necklace," I spat.

"Again, you still can't take a simple compliment?" he asked, peeved.

"No; no I cannot."

"I suppose that should have been something I should've expected," sighed Loki. "You are still very narrow minded and ignorant on specific subjects. Even I told you how you came to have that necklace, you would still try to kill me in the state you're in."

"Oh and you're not trying to kill me?"

"I am simply trying to broaden your horizon. You don't remember your past, but I can help you; I know how to recover your old memories so you _can_ remember who you are. If you're willing to work with me…"

As soon as I could, I tuned him out after that. A way to recover my lost past was what I wanted more than anything in the world. But… was I willing to work with this a-hole and destroy New York, just to evoke my past?  
I bit my lip in frustration; I just couldn't sacrifice my city for my sake.

Finally, I stared at him, folding in any emotion; simply hovering with my hands on my hips. "Bite me, son of a glitch."

Anyway, that was the last straw for him. Blood-lust filled his eyes as he lunged forward on the chariot. _Oh my_, I thought dryly._ He wants to kill me._ Ha, which can't be done to me for some reason; I can't die for love nor money. Trust me on that.  
I prepared to dodge left, but instead of ramming me straight on, the chariot curved and clipped my port wing, throwing me off just enough me just enough that I couldn't get me bearings quick enough. Loki u-turned, lighting up the top of the golden staff, blinding me. I covered my eyes in pain. Loki flew on by again grabbing me by my wings. I was flung on to the ground as Loki jumped off, pinning my metal wings awkwardly and painfully. I tried blasting energy from my wings to throw him off. But he only placed a foot on my back as if I was a prized kill as if the energy didn't bother him.

"I know I can't kill you, but I can 'torture' you," he sneered evilly. As he said that, somehow, my wings changed into a fragile angel form. My 'Death Angel' wings. I rarely use them. But when I do… They were menacing all right, but still weak from lack of use; I truthfully don't know why. These massive, beautiful yet appalling wings are entirely black and always feathered. They had a menacing feeling that made you want to crawl out of your own skin and run for cover.

I knew what he was going to do even before he did it. I didn't even have to read his mind, but I did. I gasped in surprise. The scream I produced was deafening. Horrifying. The fact that I heard my bones break, saw red, and felt nothing but the horrid feeling of my wing bones, shoulder blades, and back being shredded by the golden staff, made me feel sick. Another sonic scream came from my throat.

"Not so tough now, little Halcyon," sneered Loki, clearly enjoying the cruelty to much. I shriveled into a fetal position, whimpering and waiting for it all to stop.

My vision started to grow fuzzy and my ears felt clogged and were ringing none stop. My breath grew batted as blood filled my mouth. All I could see then were blurry images and faded calls. The pressure of Loki's foot diminished, but I fought to not black out. The next thing I felt wasn't a shot of pain, but a warm, comforting hand on my hurting wings.

"You're going to be alright. I promise." So serene, so comforting, so familiar. Who?

* * *

On the broken building above, the three heroes and the two dragons heard the shriek that originated from below. Looking down, they saw the results of the bloodshed.

"YOU MONSTER!" Thor erupted, throwing himself off the cliff edge and onto the ground below, right in front of Loki. Iron Man and Fireheart folded close after. The dragons hid in the shadows yet again, watching with apprehension. Thor's seething wrath was over flowing from every movement, every twitch, he protruded. He couldn't hide his feelings.

Loki, satisfied with his work, lifted his foot off of Joyceann. "Brother. How nice to see you."

"You, you, how could you!? Halcyon is our sister!" yelled Thor.

"Oh please; she's still Joyceann Brokenheart Stark, a broken down freak-of-a-girl with no memories."

Thor grabbed Loki by his robe collar. "She is my adopted family and so are you! You have no right to do any of this to her!" His voice seethed, but his eyes showed his concern for both his sister wellbeing and Loki's sanity. He didn't want vengeance against his brother, but Thor knew he couldn't let Loki fall out of his grip again.

"And yet notice that none of us are anywhere near related," chuckled Loki. Fed up with his younger brother, Thor threw him across gorged street. Skidding with his feet, Loki stopped himself while releasing a blast of pure energy. Tony Stark shot off the ground to avoid the blue bullet.

"Confident, are we?" Stark asked. "You're willing to take all three of us on at once; risky."

"Threatening again, Stark? But I must ask, who is the third person?" asked Loki, still smirking.

"Me stupid," Fireheart said flatly.

"So is S.H.I.E.L.D. recruiting children now?"

"Oh please; if they were recruiting children, they would've gone to you first."

"OH! I am wounded!"

Then the battle began.

Thor summoned a platoon of lightning, having the cloud above strike down randomly, knowing it wouldn't harm Joyceann. Loki dodged and leaped, jumping onto his alien chariot then off again. The Chitauri attacked as well, aiming at Thor and Fireheart. Iron Man's Arc energy acted as a laser and seared where Loki had been a moment earlier.

_Damn, what do I do?_ Fireheart thought. _I can't get to Joyceann easily and the Chitauri or Loki could mar her more; by accident or purpose. Why is everything so complicated with Loki?_

Fireheart dodged and ducked gracefully while Thor deflected laser and energy fire with Mjolnir.

Mjolnir was then sent sailing, taking down an incoming legion of Chitauri. Thor had had it up to here with his adopted brother and tried the only thing he could think of.

"Loki, I command you to- AH!" Thor yelled as Loki's staff slashed threw his Asgardian armor. A look of surprise appeared on the Asgardian's face as blood started to drip from the wound. "How is that possible" Thor started to grind his teeth.

"I've learned a lot in my exile. Haven't I told you this already?" If you could've read his mind, you would've found out Loki was furious that his so called "brother" would try to command him to stop. He was his own man now, and Loki wasn't going to stop anytime soon; not without some strong suggestion that was.

"Yes and no one cares," Iron Man said. The good and bad exchanged fire and blows for another minute. The hidden dragons watched in silence.

Then, "What do we do?" asked the more yin-yang colored dragon asked.

"Wait," The black dragon with blue stripes said.

"I'm tired of fragging waiting; Joyce is hurt! She's your fraggin' human and you're just sitting here on your ass waiting for instructions from the stupid life forms we help! Get your head screwed on straight, Lokiet!" whisper shouted the other.

Lokiet snorted. "Quiet! I know that, but we must wait. OK Shadowstar?"

"Why?!"

"Ugh. You know exactly why." The two stayed silent after that.

Down below, the violence continued. And the odds weren't changing to anyone's favor.  
By then, Fireheart was tired of running in circles. He let lose a wave of collected ash and smoke. Fiery eruptions exploded in a cacophony of disintegrating rubble. In the distraction, Terrence rushed to his fallen and long lost friend. Crouching beside Joyce, he gasped at the full extent of the carnage. Blood covered Joyceann's wings, bone peeked out where skin had been scrapped away, Loki even managed to scrape and stab at the 'Fallen Angel's' back. _I think I'm going to be sick_, Terrence thought, feeling bile rise in the back of his throat.

Swallowing his disgust and sickness, Terrence raised his hand, lowering it towards Joyce's wings. "You're going to be alright, I promise," whispered the fire wielder as he placed his hand gently on Joyce's broken wing. Joyceann stirred a little at the sound of Terrence's voice, but then went still. _She looks dead_, thought the boy. He once again shook the horrible thought out of his head. Joyceann couldn't die.

That's when he saw the pendant on Joyceann's neck; it was simple and elegant: two circles intertwined, one more textured then the other. Its golden shin almost matched the scepter's shade of gold. _So she still has it_, Terrence thought.

Slowly picking the girl up like a fallen princess, Fireheart held his lost friend close as he took to the smoke infested sky. The smoke was still so thick that Terrence could have flown right under Loki's nose. But, not being the daredevil type, Terrence took the higher and safer root up, watching the battle below.

* * *

Stark wasn't the type of person to get mad about stupid simple stuff; but for some reason, Fireheart bolting and creating the annoying dust/smoke/ash cloud didn't help his mood today. Then again, not much could be done about anybody's mood that day. You were either scared, running or hiding from the space invaders, or fighting them instead. And currently, only six were doing the fighting (seven, if Joyceann was to be counted for her valiant actions earlier)

Loki, like Thor and Tony, wasn't having the best of luck in the cloud of ash and smoke. He knew exactly who was to blame like the other two who were shooting at his butt. When he asked earlier who the third party was, other than Thor and Iron Man, he knew it was Fireheart; or how he personally knew him as Terrence Stark.

Tony continued to shoot Arc reactor energy at the enemy. The alien slave Thor's crazy brother was using had already tested the two Avengers' patients to the point of breakage. In other words, it was a burning wreck like the other five Joyceann handled earlier.

"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S said, "I am glad to inform you that Fireheart has successfully retrieved Joyceann."

"Good. OK then, contact my fire headed son," replied Tony.

"I am on it sir."

* * *

Terrence did indeed get his fallen friend back up to the Lokiet and Shadowstar. The two dragons sniffed at the broken human.

"She looks, pathetic… Are we sure it's her?" scoffed Shadowstar. Lokiet smacked her friend in the head with her tail. Shadowstar rubbed the back of his head from the dull pain Lokiet had left.

"You two are here by ordered to keep watch of her, OK?" commanded Terrence.

"Yes sir," they said in unison, using their tails to salute. A buzzing went off in Terrence's ear. He tapped his Bluetooth.

"Go," said Terrence.

"Terrence, please tell me Joyce is out of the way?" asked Tony.

"Yep; I had J.A.R.V.I.S. tell you, right?"

"Message received then."

"Good. Also, do you need help?"

"Oh no, not at all," Iron Man said sarcastically.

Terrence grinned. "All right. Give me a minute." Fireheart shut off the connection. He turned back to the dragons. "Stay."

"What else would we do?" asked Lokiet as Shadowstar began to place Joyceann onto Lokiet's back.

Terrence, now Fireheart again, leaped down, landing perfectly and silently. The Chitauri, being shot down, didn't warn Loki of Fireheart.

"You truly are more cowardly the before. Hiding behind the Chitauri and that staff," taunted Thor. Tony had told the blonde Asgardian to stall his brother till Fireheart could get into position.

Loki smiled. "Oh please. I'm stronger than ever before thanks to this new weapon of mine. Unlike you and Odin, _he_ saw the greatness I could achieve. _He_, knew I could take this world for myself."

"And who is this all great 'He?'" asked Thor.

The conversation continued on like this, Thor lightly insulting Loki and said person being insulting retorting back just as fast. Tony just stood off to the side, making occasional side comments. If only he had popcorn right then.

In the meantime, Fireheart positioned himself behind the black haired Asgardian. _Playtime, staff freak,_ thought Terrence. The boy stayed within the shadow of the cloud, soaking in the shadows. With a swift transformation, the absorbed shades gathered around Terrence's wings. The once maroon feathers turned in to a burning ember, shadows crowding Fireheart's face; he looked like a demon from hell itself. Slithering up behind Loki, he raised up into the cloud, slightly parting it so the sun shone through; his wings seemed to split the light around him and replace it with darkness.

By then, Thor and Tony had stopped taunting and threatening Loki. They were, too, playing along with the scare gag. The duo of Avengers had abruptly stopped talking, gawking at the silhouette behind the terrorist Asgardian.

"What are you two looking at?" Loki asked. Finally turning around, Loki's green eyes grew wide with terror. Behind him, was a demon straight from Hell.

"You have disappointed me. You're dead," half rasped, half growled Terrence the "demon." Loki scrambled instantly away from Fireheart's not-so-lethal-self. The Asgardian shot out of the situation on a passing Chitauri chariot. The three of them laughed until tears appeared in their eyes and their stomachs hurt (even if you couldn't see it on Tony's face mask). Up on top of the building, Shadowstar laughed almost uncontrollably while Lokiet chuckled lightly.

Recovering, Terrence yelled, "See ya later, you son of a-" the boy stopped when he felt his adoptive father give him a slight glare threw his metal mask. "Well, you know," Fireheart smiled.

"We know what you mean kid, "Iron Man said ruffling Terrence's hair. The two and a half Avengers returned to the still crumbling building/cliff where Joyceann lay unconscious. Already placed on Lokiet's back, the three heroes and two reptiles took flight straight towards the Helicarrier.

* * *

Loki flew past the man-made skyscrapers in retreat from the demon that had terrorized him moments ago.

_A demon_, he thought. Something he'd feared ever since he'd first read about them. You could say they were a secret fear of his. He shivered a little at its memory.

Not all of the occupancy of Midgard may not have believed in the supernatural like they had in the past, but many had heard of the supernatural that so many others believed. What did that have to do with things? Well, Loki was considered a supernatural. Of course, that would mean, (since he's afraid of demons), he was scared of an evil spirit. Demons don't always look like some red dude with an arrowhead tail and evil looking trident. What I'm trying to say reader, is that Loki defiantly had his demons.

The jealously for what his blonde brother and sister had, was one. The wrath he held up inside of him for anyone that dared to test him was another. Even Loki's pride of himself and greed for a place to call his own were another few demons to name. His demons were piling up and following him where ever he went.

As soon as Stark Tower came into view, a thought of realization came to Loki's mind. Had he really said all that about Halcyon? About her being a 'broken down freak-of-a-girl?' Had he really meant it?

"Of course I meant it," Loki muttered to himself. His eyes softened a little. "Did I?" Loki's self-conscious finally kicked in.

He loved little Joyceann, whatever name she went by. She was his sister; it didn't matter if he was a half-frost giant half-Asgardian and she was a Midgardian super-human. Why would he say such harsh things about her? Loki, wither he meant to or not, started to tear up. He may have been a creature of ice, but Loki still had feelings and emotions. The Chitauri took no notice as Loki finally let his eyes over flow with his demon filled tears.

_What have I done_? he thought.


	3. Chapter 3: Airplane

fgLife Notes of the Adopted Daughter of Tony Stark

By Dragon-Child of Lightning

Chapter 3: Airplane, Airplane, Take Me Away…

All I felt before; agony, fearful, helplessness, all these feelings, were all numbed by the feeling of flying, but not by my own power of course. I didn't know who had me, but it was scaly. And I really didn't care, I felt safe. And still didn't know why. Pure bliss came from this particular feeling of flying though; like I smoothly gliding through the clouds. Not that I knew what the clouds felt like; I'd never flown higher than a two story building.

I still fought to stay awake, even though soon enough I would lose that fight. But while I was still conscious, I took in everything I could.

I could hear the sound of muffled voices and a far off sound of thrumming. I didn't care. Finally losing the fight, I fell into a dark, dreamless sleep that occupied my time for what seemed like for eternity. All I knew then was darkness.

* * *

Lokiet sensed Joyceann was falling deeper into a slumber of pain and defeat, fighting to stay awake; she knew her human well. Joyce would battle to the end of anything, even sleep. With that knowledge though, the dragon also knew Joyceann would recover and find peace, even in a sleep like death. The wind from the Helicarrier became stronger as the tiresome five progressed forward. The Avengers and their parade of strange friends landed on the Helicarrier's deck and immediately were confronted by Director Nick Fury.

"Is the 'Fallen Angel' safe?" asked the S.H.I.E.L.D. director over the roar of the Helicarrier's engines.

"Joyce needs immediate attention on the wounds she's acquired," replied Thor. Fury then gestured them to follow into the heart of the Helicarrier. As they passed screens, Tony would just get a glance and then shudder a little at all the damage being brought on.

"She's a real glutton for punishment, isn't she?" asked Nick, taking notice of the damage done to Joyceann.

"A good way of describing it," Terrence said. "I guess you can say she is. The only reason she is like that is because, and I quote her, she's 'programed to protect.'"

"She said that a lot, even before Mission city," Tony said, still paying more attention to the monitors as they all strolled by the command center.

"Stark, everything is under control here; you're dismissed," said Fury, finally noticing Iron Man's fidgeting.

"Are you sure it's OK?" asked the amazed billionaire. He knew Fury wanted him to fight, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. director also knew that Iron Man's family was just as equally important to him as his city.

"Yes. Like I said Stark, everything here is under control." With that, Iron Man left, his suit clanking as he walked. Lokiet, Shadowstar, Thor, and Terrence kept following Fury.

The halls and corridors of the Helicarrier were bustling with activity in reaction to New York's attack like an ant colony; little busy bodies scurried back and forth from station to station with reports, updates, and coffee.  
Lokiet watched the screens as the fighting continued. Terrence, not the type that liked to be cooped up for long, ignored his claustrophobia and pressed forward. Thor watched the chaos on the monitors too, and, not to mention, antsy as well to be back in the fray of battle to derail his adopted brother's plan.

Terrence observed his "sister" and smiled. "Looks like old Sparky needed to sleep."

Lokiet craned his neck to look. He was right, Joyceann was now sound asleep. "When do you think she'll wake up?" she asked.

"Hey I'm telekinetic, not psychic; I don't know," shrugged Terrence.

"Uh-huh, and why did you call her old Sparky?" Shadowstar asked.

"Because I could."

When the Infirmary was reached, Nick Fury left the heroes and Joyceann in the care of the nurses who were still hurriedly prepping the room. Lokiet walked over to the hospital bed where Joyceann would be and let Thor lift Joyce up and place her on the bed. As soon as he did, man and beast stepped back hastily as the nurses bombarded Joyceann with stethoscopes and other medical devices. One nurse, seemingly much calmer and more focused, came and set up a vitals system that showed Joyceann's steady heartbeat; the heart line had a steady beat and didn't falter.  
Terrence and Lokiet watched with interest while Thor paced back and forth, his cape sort of flowing behind him. Mjolnir was set on a metal table near the bed. Shadowstar sat in a corner, minding his own business and grooming himself.

Eventually, one of the nurses, a middle aged woman with short brown hair, reported their findings. "Well, her wings are in a severe state. They're splintered to pieces," the nurse said. Terrence cringed. She continued, "She's lost a lot of blood, has a broken rib, and some major buries. But the good news is that her accelerated healing will fit everything into place and her back will heal as well."

"What's the broken rib from?" Terrence asked, curious to know.

"Probably from where Loki had his foot on her."

"How did you…"

"I reported exactly what happened at the scene," explained Thor.

"Anyway," continued the nurse, "To be safe, we'll make a salve for her wounds and bandage her up. I'd love both of you help; but Thor, you need to get back out there. The Avengers need their second heaviest hitter," finished the nurse.

Thor didn't know wither to be offended by that comment or not. "Gladly. Just, don't hurt her," he said with a look mixed with doubt, fear, anger, and worry; doubt that the Avengers needed him that much, fear that Joyceann, his little sister, wouldn't wake, anger towards Loki, worry that today would change everything, good or bad.

"Not to worry Thunderer; Halcyon is in good hands." Then the nurse turned to go make the salve.

Terrence exhaled watching Thor leave, wishing his real family had ever been like that; caring but not clingy. He'd left his parents a long time ago to get away from them; it wasn't that he hated them; in fact he had found his real parents quite delightful. It was just, they clung too much to him, to say. They were helicopter parents who never had given him the chance to explore. But when Terrence was given a chance to travel, he took it. But when he tried to return… Terrence shuddered in remembrance.

Trying to forget again like he always did when the subject of his parents piped up, Terrence stared the screens again for a good long while; watching Captain America fight alien, Hulk smash alien, Iron Man blast alien, Thor, who was now in the fray, hammer and electrocute alien, Hawkeye shoot alien, and Black Widow combat alien as well. By then, Lokiet had gone over to sit by her reptilian friend who had stopped grooming.

Terrence had to smile; the Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes. Any six of them alone were amazing; but together, they were remarkable. But the smile fell away when I looked over at the 'Fallen Angel' again. She was feebler looking in this state. Terrence's expression fell more. He couldn't understand what Joyce had ever seen in her "brother."

Over in the corner where Lokiet and Shadowstar were, the two dragons sat, hissing in an ancient language that humans had long forgotten.

"What did Joyceann ever do to deserve this torture?" asked Lokiet, sighing a bit. Her tongue flicked in and out.

"She lived," replied Shadowstar flatly.

Lokiet narrowed her sapphire eyes.

"Well, honestly, I think Loki was trying to prove something, ya' know? He kept saying he was 'stronger than before.' What could that have meant?"

"Anything really. He was stronger though and that was the scary thing. The power and knowledge he had had been astounding." She paused. "Not to mention, he knew Joyceann's Achilles heel. Did he know that before?"

"Don't know."

"And did you see the wild, murderous look in Loki's eyes?"

"Wasn't paying attention that much."

"Well it was there."

Shadowstar sighed. "You know what; I think sometimes it would be better if Joyce _could_ just die."

Crash, bang, SMASH!

Terrence and the five remaining nurses jumped; two automatically left in a hurry, done with their work and wanting nothing to do with the dragons' fight.

"How DARE you say that!?" roared Lokiet, who now was speaking English.

"What? Hey, wait! I was joking! I surrender!" screeched Shadowstar, trying to defend himself. Lokiet spat out a string of curses, both in English and the forgotten language mentioned earlier. To two tussled on the ground, Lokiet looking for an advantage and Shadowstar struggling to escape.

"**FOR THE LOVE OF PRIME,****_SHUT UP_**!" Terrence thundered over the two dragons. His wings flared with a fury. Lokiet and Shadowstar stopped squabbling, cowering when they saw his fatal glare and scarred, inferno stained dragon wings.

"Sorry," mumbled Shadowstar, acting like a punished child.

"So am I; I'm, just, so worried and I overreacted," Lokiet said, prodding the floor.

_Yeah you overreacted_, thought Terrence. He sighed, settling down. "I know. I get that you're worried, but you need to not do it in such a loud fashion. It's distracting." The white haired boy turned back to Joyceann and helped the now three remaining nurses, who by now had started breathing again, slather on the salve.

"They're awfully scary when mad," whispered a red headed nurse from Massachusetts.

"Well, they are dragons," Terrence whispered back, grinning a bit at the nurse's reaction. Some people just never got used to the fact that they were around the strangest and most bizarre people in the world. E.g. the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Autobots, etc.

After cleaning off dried blood and any fresher blood that had accumulated, the nurses and Fireheart finally got all the salve on. Terrence was wiped. He flopped on a chair near the windows that lined the other side of the Infirmary. He was too lazy and worried to change from his battle suit to more normal attire. Instead, he stared, watching as the nurses wrap Joyce, a.k.a Thunderheart, in bandages. That warm, gooey feeling encased him again. Fireheart shook it off. Instead, he stared out the windows.

He wanted to help outside as he had helped inside the Helicarrier, but couldn't. Shadowstar and Lokiet finally settled down near each other next to Terrence. The nurses had eventually left and the Infirmary was quiet enough that a pin head could've been heard. Joyce never seemed to stir. But Terrence felt her mind racing with information of the experience she had just, well, experienced; maybe even memories. _I hope there are memories of us_, thought Terrence, resting his head against the chair. _Anything; the Autobots, the Strom Tamers, NEST, S.H.E.I.L.D. Anything._

* * *

_After the Battle…_

Tony Stark stood where his lounge used to be. It technically was still there, but it was torn to bits and had Asgardian sized holes put there by The Hulk. The Chitauri had been defeated and Loki was in prison on Asgardian now. New York could sleep somewhat peacefully.

Thor had gone back to his own world with his brother in tow. Steve went off on his motorcycle to as normal as a super solider could be. Clint and Natasha, being S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, most likely were having a few weeks of break (and a raise in pay). Tony had dragged a dehulkified Bruce Banner with him to Stark Tower; Pepper had said it was the start of a beautiful bromance.

With plans to rebuild the Stark Tower already underway, Tony could relax and try to get some sleep. Try, could be loosely used though. With sleep deprivation he had acquired after the battle and worry for his long lost adopted daughter, a good night sleep was hard to find. Insomnia, in other words.

A week had gone by since the Battle of New York or BoNY for short. New York was making a surprising recovery; that was probably because all the Earthly villains were still in hiding from the kickass Avengers. As if it already wasn't enough trouble to have them, them being the Avengers, as single heroes; not to mention that Spider Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men were still at large. In other words, the Earth bound villains would have to be tougher, smarter, and sneakier to get past any one of the Earth's heroes.

So, somewhat relaxed and looking out his glassless window, Tony sipped his red wine in thought. One of his own patented holographic desks sat in front of him with news reports and blueprints for the Tower. He skimmed each thing for an equivalent of a second each. Nothing was really perking his interest; it was the same as it had been for a week and it was starting to irk Tony. He honestly thought everyone should get over it. Now, the only reason that he thought this was because he wanted to forget the experience he had; he flew threw a worm hole for crying out loud! It may seem cool, but when you're trying to also redirect a nuclear missile, not so much.

When he flew through the worm hole, Tony thought he would've never made it back. The last thing he wanted to do was contact Pepper, but he never got to. It was a real miracle he even fell back. Even more of a miracle that Hulk chose to catch and save him right then too. None the less, Tony was still alive and he was grateful; or, at least he thought he was.

By then, Pepper had come in. She saw her colleague/boyfriend leaning over the desk and looking scatterbrained as ever. She sighed a little and hugged Stark from behind.

"Tony, are you OK?" Pepper asked, even though she already knew he wasn't.

Tony was a little surprised to hear Pepper. "If OK means having insomnia and drinking more than usual, then I'm just fine. Better than ever!"

"That's a lie."

"Yeah," Tony said, more into his glass then to Pepper.

"Why don't you take a break; I ordered in pizza," Ms. Potts suggested.

"Yeah, I guess I could," he said,

Tony and Pepper sat down on the floor near the painless window waiting for their pizza and watched the clouds, Pepper every so often pointing out what the shape of a specific cloud looked like.

Then Tony asked, "Pepper, what was your reaction when I went into the worm hole?"

Pepper was silent from shock. Then, "I couldn't breathe; I thought I lost you. We had already lost Joyceann and I couldn't, lose you too. The emotional experiences I would've had would have clouded my judgment and Stark Industries would've become a mess. But when you came back down…"

Tony hugged Pepper. "I get it. You were worried about your former boss."

"Something like that," sighed Pepper, tearing up a bit. The pizza came five minutes later; still being too hot, Tony burnt his mouth several times before Pepper told him to cut it. Bruce came in promptly afterwards as well and grabbed a slice. The three sat there conversing, avoiding the subject of the BoNY. Bruce and Tony told each other about their new discoveries within the past week about gamma radiation and Arc reactor energy, while Pepper listened with no clue of what seventy five percent of their conversation was about.

After an hour that seemed like only twenty minutes, the sun began to set.

"Your kids will be coming home soon, right?" Bruce asked.

"By God, you're right Green Bean," Stark joked, looking to the sky line to where the Helicarrier should have been flying overhead.

Terrence and Yu were in fact gliding down the warm down drafts to return home. They had spent their whole day on the Helicarrier, either at Joyceann's side or training.

As Bruce predicted, the two sons of Stark landed soon after. Pepper hugged them both fiercely like any mother would. Terrence, still distraught from the news he had been given earlier, hugged Pepper back. Yu, with no knowledge on what Terrence knew yet, squeezed Pepper as well, then let go and went to talk to Tony and Bruce.

Pepper took notice of Terrence's frantic nature and cupped her 'son's' face.

"Is everything OK?" she asked aloud.

Terrence looked into his guardian's eyes, not sure what quite to say to her; the only thing he could do was tear up the more she questioned him with her eyes. Then he let lose the damn. He balled into his mother's shoulder, not trying to keep back his feelings.

_Ratchet said_, he thought. _Ratchet said she wasn't going to wake up anytime soon!_ Now Pepper understood his mourning; Joyceann wasn't OK.

She hugged him back. "Shh, shh. It's going to be OK." But as much as Pepper tried to comfort him, Terrence couldn't get ahold of himself as he recalled the events earlier that day.

Ratchet had called him into the Helicarrier's med bay, saying he had urgent news. Nick Fury, Agent Hill, Thor (who came via a temporary, twice-then-done Bifrost) and Terrence had shown up and were the Autobot Medic's only audience. Ratchet, apparently not waiting for anyone else, began to explain Joyceann's condition. Apparently, Loki had managed to strike her "Achilles' Heel" per say. In doing this, it activated a mode called Stasis Lock. It wasn't like a coma because you could go years without waking up. Terrence knew this affect all too well. What really worried Terrence was that Ratchet told the three, if both of Joyce's wings had been broken, it would have been certain death for the girl. Terrence, being Terrence, flipped out.

"What do you mean she could've died?! Joyceann can't die!" protested Terrence.

"Granted that; but you know very well that she has her limits. All of you Storm Tamers do," Ratchet explained. Terrence growled something unintelligible.

"If my predictions are correct, Joyceann will not be waking up anytime soon."

"As in years?" Thor asked.  
"Maybe."  
"This is stupid!" cried Terrence. And that was the end for Terrence's participation in that conversation. He was dismissed along with Yu as they headed out to Stark Tower. On the glide down, the information that Terrence had been given finally stuck and sunk in: Joyceann could've died.

Pepper kept hugging her son, but he released her. _Could we talk somewhere privately?_ He asked. Pepper nodded and guardian and son went to go talk in the lab. The other three watched them go without question. Yu knew Terrence was jittery after his talk with Ratchet, but he hadn't pushed his "brother."

In the lower lab of Stark Tower, Pepper turned on the light and asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to make sure no one came down for however much time was needed ("Affirmative Ms. Potts.").

"OK Terrence," sighed Pepper. "Tell me exactly what's going on." Terrence explained everything to his guardian, tearing up every so often from the still lingering trauma.

"I see," Pepper said at the end. "Are you sure Ratch is right?"

"I know for a fact he's right," nodded Terrence. "It's… complicated; but basically it's happened before."

"To whom?"

"Me."

Pepper, putting the puzzle together, nodded. "So when it happened and you woke up, you wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen to anyone else, correct?"

"I do believe that is what the young master is trying to convey Ms. Potts," J.A.R.V.I.S answered in place of Terrence.

"Hey I can fight my own battles AI, got it?" Terrence cautioned. Not getting an answer, an unusual occurrence, Terrence inhaled deeply. "It's just… I thought about all of the events and how many people have died between the times when Loki first broke through that portal to now. So many innocent people died. S.H.I.E.L.D had its grievances too when some of their men were lost." He paused and then added, "Not to mention Coulson's death stirred the pot even more.

"I just opt to be able to protect her and I've found myself once again sitting on the sidelines not being able to do anything. All I wish I could do is to always protect her." He paused again, waiting for Pepper to shed some advice, but when she didn't, he continued. "But all I could do right now is demand to go to Asgard as soon as the Bifrost is officially opened up again and sock Loki myself."

Pepper laughed full heartedly. She felt the same way, even though she wouldn't admit it. She clapped a hand on Terrence's shoulder. "Terrence you're a genius! But I think Joyceann would like to be the first to do that."

He sighed as a reply, chuckling a bit.

"Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark is traveling his way down here. I suggest we finish this conversation," J.A.R.V.I.S recommended.

"Agreed," Terrence nodded. As the two in the lab came out, Tony was walking down the stairwell to the lab. Opening the door, the two and the one met.

"Is everything OK?" asked the billionaire.

Terrence smiled softly, thinking for a moment. In retrospect, he was thankful that Joyceann was still alive, New York was recovering, and that Bruce hadn't destroyed his home any further; so his reply was, "I guess you could say it is."

* * *

_Asgard…_

A human equivalent of a week may have passed, but for many on Asgard, the days seemed to drag on and on. The news of Loki's return had put many on edge ever since the information that Loki was a frost giant leaked out. And now that he was an official terrorist, well, things got complicated. After Odin had locked his adopted son, Asgard's security level increased. Thor had even had taken it upon himself to restore in a currently tattered galaxy; since the Bifrost was still broken, Thor would go for the smaller things first where he wouldn't need an army. Thankfully though the Bifrost was almost up and running again and would be in about another week. Thor of course wanted to see Jane Foster more than anything else though.

In the meantime, Loki sat bored out of his mind. There wasn't anything he currently wanted to do in the prison cell he had been assigned. His "mother" had come to visit him every day since he had first come "home." Loki didn't know whether to be flattered or extremely annoyed by this gesture. But he dealt with it.  
Not only had Frigga been stopping by, Thor often came down and lectured him on his "mistakes towards Midgardian humanity." Loki, if he wasn't trapped in a cell, would have attempted to choke his so called brother a long time ago.

As the terrorist merrily sighed in boredom, he thought about what had exactly happened a week before, deciding to open a book that was lane next to him. After he had escaped the "demon" (who he did find out later that is was Terrence) Loki had fled to Stark Tower, 'chatted' with Tony Stark, and then was beaten to a pulp by the Hulk, leaving Loki unmovable and Stark's lounge with Asgardian sized dents in his floor. In the end, both Loki and the Tessarack had been taken back to Asgard to be locked up; the only difference was that the Tessarack was to be sealed in the relic chamber and Loki got a prison cell.

He then heard the doors that connected the prison chamber and the stairwell to freedom open. Loki huffed; here it went again. Frigga was once again coming to see her "son." Loki braced himself for the women… only to be greeted by Thor's not-in-a-gaming-mood face.

"Well, this certainly a surprise," chided Loki.

Thor frowned. "I've just returned from Midgard."

"So; what does that have to do with me?" smirked Loki.

"I've begotten information on Halcyon."

"Oh good for you! What does this have to do with me?"

"I've found out that she isn't coming back anytime soon."

"Oh please; why should I care?" Loki lied. He wanted to hear the news no matter how many times he denied it.

Thor crossed his arms. "You really are a horrible liar at the moment, aren't you?"

"And yet how many times have I tricked you?"

"Stop changing the subject."

"Nevermore, I don't stress about that girl-freak; for all I care, she could-"

"Joyceann is in Stasis Lock." Loki stared silent and dumbfounded for a moment. He knew exactly what that meant. Thor continued. "That's right, try to come up with an excuse for that.

"You were such a fool; you knew you couldn't beat her. So what do you result to? Almost killing her! First we thought we had lost you, then when Halcyon went missing… It was devastating for many parties involved. So when both of you were trying kill each other!" Thor grumbled something then went on. "I've told mother and she is still morning the fact that you would do something so wretched to your own kin. I've talked with Odin and the only reason he doesn't ban you with his own power or _kill you_ is because both mother and I refuse to see you leave Asgard again. Wither you believe it or not, we still care for you.

"I can also assure you that you still going to be punished though for your misconducts; but I honestly think your conscious should be your biggest burden at the moment-"

"Shut up!" Loki barked as he slammed his book down. Thor did as he was told, more from surprise then from obedience.

"Loki-"

"Do not lecture me on my consciousness and my wrongdoings! You don't know what was going on; YOU didn't see what happened like I did! Joyceann was still there! Don't you understand? She had all her memories; I could see it, hear it! She spoke perfect Cybertronian; a language almost a hundred percent of the Midgardian couldn't start to comprehend!

"Joyceann's fighting style, her attitude, her speech; everything about her was still there! I was only trying to help her!"  
"By almost killing her?"

"Silence! No, it was not like that." Loki took a deep breath, feeling his emotions start to jumble up and come blubbering out. "That wasn't what I wanted to do at all. I just thought… I just thought I would be able to help her. I thought I'd be able to jog her memory with some bit of knowledge that she learned before. But it obviously wasn't worth it.

"So you were right; I was a fool. I thought I could do something to change what had happened, but I only made-made things worse," Loki choked out. As much as it pained him to have his adopted brother watch him break down, Loki just couldn't hold back anymore. "Thor, she still wore the necklace."

Thor was shaken at this for sure. The Golden Necklace of Asgard; a sacred relic of Asgard that had once been Loki's; when Joyceann came into the scene, things changed. But Loki gave up the necklace willingly, so there was no problem. It was sort of like Mjolnir, it was based on worthiness. But of course this is all to be explained more later.

"Are you positive that it was the same pendent?" asked Thor slowly.

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

Thor knew for a fact that Loki would never lie about something like this. He nodded his approval, than left, leaving Loki. Thor relayed the information again and again in his head as if it would leave. That pendant truly was the only thing that connected Halcyon to Asgard, being enchanted and all. If Joyceann still had that necklace, then Thor knew there was still hope for his sister.

Thor having left, Loki bit his lip, still tearing up. Emotion after emotion kept piling up in competition for the top: regret, question, worry, malice, hate, worry, anxiousness, sadness, nausea, worry. Obviously, worry was the top emotion bouncing around his head. With Joyceann in Stasis Lock, that could only mean thing; she almost died.

"I could've killed her," whispered Loki, realizing his mistake once more. "I could've killed her!" he said louder. Hysteria started to overtake him. "I could've _killed_ her!" Once more his tears began to overflow with regret of what he had done. He dragged his feet as he walked to the small bed he had and flopped down. Then, hunched over as if the world was on his shoulders, Loki cried. He cried, and cried, and cried. His sheets became wet with regret filled tears.

"What have I done? What have I done?!" Loki kept whispering to himself. "I guess I really do disserve this then…"

_Well duh,_ thought a far off voice.

Loki's head shot up. _Who's there?!_ He thought.

_Who do you think? It's me, stupid._

_Joyceann?!_

_Uh, yeah. _

_BUT HOW!_

_Look, when I'm in Stasis Lock, I have my memories; plus I can contact you. I honestly just found that out. I won't be able to remember anything after I wake up unfortunately. _

_Well, that's unfortunate. But, still, this means… I was right!_

_Yes; I still am myself and I still have every memory that I have gained through the years._

_So that means you remember…! _Loki's excitement was obvious.

_Yep! So don't worry; but remember, brother: I'm going to kill you when I wake up!_

Loki chuckled a yes in reply. "Well then I'll be waiting."

_You better be._

* * *

I couldn't get any feeling from my limbs, no movement. I wiggled my shoulders a bit, only to moan in pain. My back was killing me.

"Holy scrap; she's awake!" cried a freakishly familiar voice. It was female and almost pitchy.

"Well, they did say she'd wake up this week," came another familiar voice. Kind and gentle and male, nothing like the last.

"Of course she was, my calculations said that there was only a 1.09% that she wouldn't," another, older more sophisticated male voice declared.

I then heard radio static, then, '..._Oh please tell me_ **she's** _alright_!'

"She is fine, Bumblebee," this time a more mature male voice came into hearing distance. It had an experience to it that made me want to salute to the owner of the voice.

"You checked on her every day. Stop freaking out," said a gruff, aggressive male voice.

"No need to be mean about it, Ironhide," the pitchy female voice said. All the voices were freakishly familiar.

I started finally opening my eyes. In front of me was a caution sign yellow robot. I screamed.

'...Sorry, sorry, I'll just, uh…'

"Great ya scared her." I looked over to see a sliver bot, much shorter than the yellow one. _Oh crap_, I thought. _Not him again!_ I closed my eyes to block it all out and hope it was merely a nightmare.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I!?" I screeched in terror, still fighting against the paralysis.

"Calm down, Joyceann; Bee, back off, Ratch, give her a calming sedative, nothing to strong," This voice was the kind and gentle one.

I opened my eyes again, feeling a little calmer and slightly woozy, even though I wasn't sitting up. In front of me this time was a tall boy with lengthy, white hair and amber eyes.

"Joyceann, you're ok. Stop struggling," he said calmly, and then he turned. "Autobots, OUT!" I heard a distinctive mechanical sound whir, then roaring engines. Then it was quiet. My eyes were wide open, but I didn't lift my head, in fear that I would see something that would frighten me even more. I looked over to see my limbs and waist strapped down. My wings were tucked in and still felt like crap from that little tiff with Loki.

The only things in the room now were people and were either teens or adults. I tried to place them, recognizing most of them, but not all.

"Who are you people?" I asked, knowing that fear filled my voice.

"The welcome committee, sort of," the pitchy voice said, who happened to belong to a girl with blonde hair in two foot giant pigtails, a red striped sweater, khaki short shorts, and tan combat boots. "I'm Scout, your alter ego! Welcome back Joyceann!"

"What? Who are you people, ho-how do you know my name, where am I?"

"Maybe that could've waited," said the white haired boy. "On the less crazy, I'm Terrence. And you're in the presence of the Avengers and A.I.T.s," He gestured to the humans around him.

"Who?" I gulped, my eyes still widened in absolute fear.

"Your family."

* * *

Author's Note

Hello! It's DCoL (obviously). I'm sorry to be redoing so many things, but I honestly think it's worth it!

First off, I want to say that yes I will update my FMA fanfics soon, but I'm watching seasons one and two first; so please be patient! Also, if any of you have time, I'd like you to check out my Deviantart page. I'm Child-of-Lightning.

And finally, I honestly don't know how Joyceann was able to reach Loki; it just came to me. I guess I'll have to explain it later on!

Sincerely, Dragon-Child of Lightning


	4. Chapter 4: Wake Me Up

Life Notes of the Adopted Daughter of Tony Stark

By Dragon-Child of Lightning

Chapter 4: Wake Me Up…

_Family?_ The sudden shock of this material made me stop my struggling.

"So I guess this means welcome back!" said a chirpy, haven't-hit-puberty-voice. Regarding where the direction the voice came, I saw an orangey, auburn haired boy with ice blue eyes that had a warm side to them, and…wings. Smaller and with few similarities to mine, but different in many minute ways. They were like a patchwork of scales and feathers that had been stitched together in haste.

The bed I was stationed on started to rise. I froze even more. _Great, this is one of those rising beds they use in hospitals_, I thought. My pale hair was down and in my face. Finally sitting straight (or at least semi-straight), I could get a much clearer view of my, uh, prison. The room I was one huge cement box that had many medical devices scattered about. There was one big Plexiglas window that served as the ceiling. I felt drawn to it. I started to climb out of bed, but I was retrained by the hold downs I had on my limbs. _Great, just great_, I thought sourly.  
I swiveled my head around the room, seeing thirteen teenagers, seven adults, and two hulking figures in the shadows standing around the room. Ironically, many were heroes I'd seen around New York. Spider Man and the four others he was with were the teenagers in the room. Along with three other teenagers roughly my age, who helped the other five, I remembered to be white haired Fireheart, the one with blonde pigtails was Alter Ego, and orange and blue was Iceheart.

There was the famous Tony Stark, the first Avenger Captain America, and Bruce Banner/The Hulk who currently was his normal, relaxed human self. I didn't recognize the other four adults in the room; a blonde dude in a red cape, a red headed women, a brown haired man, and a very dignified looking black gentleman with an eye patch. The teenagers I didn't recognize were completely different from the ones I did. There was a girl with blue hair, a boy with spiky black hair and glasses, another boy with an olive green trench coat, and one more boy with a white scarf.

The only things you could make on the big figures in the shadows were their eyes, one pair piercing azure and the other soul cringing yellow that shifted to mind wrenching red every so often. Hisses and snorts and growls were the only sounds that could be heard.

There was a slight twinge in the back of my mind, like an old file of some sort was resurfacing. But I couldn't quite place the feeling; it was just stuck there being a pain and unreachable. I'd seen these people on TV, yes, or fighting in real life when I was out and about. But I'd never met them personally. So why was the alarm going off in my head that these said people were more familiar then I realized?

The teen or future Avengers (whatever you called them) whispered and hissed back and forth their thoughts on the matter at hand. I heard every little detail. They were wondering if I was on "their side still."  
After about another minute, two doctors and two assistant nurses strolled in casually and started a check up on me. My blood pressure was tested, a cold stethoscope was put on my back and chest, and a needle was poked into my arm; right into a vein (I shudder every time I remember it).

"Breath," said the female brunette doctor in soothing voice. I did as I was told.

"Don't scream," said the bald, male doctor in a monotone voice. He jammed the needle into my arm. I held back the urge to yelp and hissed threw gritted teeth.

_Gees Arnold, careful_, thought the brunette. The needle was slowly extracted from my arm; I almost fainted seeing my blood in the syringe. Arnold his Baldness then went over to a table where there was some sort of lab set up. He put the blood, my blood, into a test tube, and then left with his blonde nurse.

The brunette doctor rolled her eyes and continued to do her test and her assistant, a young girl (with what I would describe as emerald-camo colored hair) would jot down whatever the doctor said. This continued until the doctor then quietly said, "Ma'am, I need a hair sample." The brunette then plucked a silver hair from my scalp and placed it on a petri dish.  
I let the she-doctor do as she pleased, but I didn't understand why I had to put under a microscope and be stared at by all the others in the room. It was extremely unnerving; I couldn't see how the brunette physician ignored them so easily.

Eventually, the doctor turned and faced the man in the eye patch and said, "Sir, I've completed Joyceann's check-up. I need look over all my findings in the lab, but I will have any results you need."

"Alright," nodded the man with the eye patch. Both doctor and nurse then evicted themselves from the room, the door closing shut behind them.  
"Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, Banner, Rodgers, A.I.T.s, you are all dismissed," eye patch commanded in a neutral tone. The woman with red hair, man with brown hair, Captain America, Bruce Banner, and Spider Man and his posy of teens all left without question, the door locking for good behind them. Left in the room now were the man with the eye patch, Fireheart, Iceheart, Alter Ego, Iron Man, the blonde in the cape, and the four other teenagers. Ten left people in the room.

"Well," I said after a lengthy pause. "If I could at least be freed and have movement in my limbs I might be willing to cooperate with whatever you might want from me."

"Oh, right. Uh, sir?" Fireheart turned to the man in the eye patch, who in turn nodded. He seemed a little hesitant to do so at first though, like I would pounce at any second. Fireheart got to work loosening the tight straps from my arms, waist, and limbs. First thing I did was _fwip_ out my wings and stretched them. They had turned silver with vibrant fading purple on the tips.

"That's better," I purred. I still sat on the bed, crisscrossing my legs. Fireheart sat on the edge of the bed smiling. I kept my poker face on and looked as calm as ever on the outside. But on the inside, I was panicking and freaking out. My breathing might have been steady, but my heart said otherwise. My brain was screaming for me to get out, even if it meant fighting; but my heart and soul, (and limbs), would not obey.

"Well, ah, hello, Joyce. Nice to see you again," the boy said shyly. He stuck out his hand.

I stared at him for a moment and his hand. Seeing I wasn't going to shake it, he retracted it slowly as if I would change my mind and shake it. Trying to figure out what to say, since these people apparently knew my name, I also reviewed in my head why I would be here in the first place. When I finally gathered my wits and words, Fireheart spoke before me and said, "No you are not our prisoner; and the reason you were tied down is because you jerked around a lot in a coma when you had nightmares."

Surprise lit up my mind. How did he know what I was going to say? I continued to stare at him with my mouth slightly hanging agape.

"Sorry," Fireheart said quickly. He pointed to his head and continued. "I can read minds like you can." He paused. "You, still can read minds, right?"

I nodded.

The others in the room shifted uncomfortably at that, as if that information was not what they wanted to hear. That made me a little uneven myself.

My heart zoomed a little when I saw Fireheart's face up closer to mine then before; a few feet, but none the less. I shook off the feeling.

"So I have a question." I turned my head to see Iceheart had raised his hand.

"Spill," I demanded, speaking for the first time.

"It's alive!" joked the boy with the trench coat.

Iceheart ignored him and asked, "Do you remember our names?"

I blinked, speechless. These were heroes of New York. Why on earth would I know their secret identities? "No," I simply replied.

"Oh," Iceheart's voice fell.

"Well if you don't remember, we'll tell you," Alter Ego happily volunteered. "I'm Scout. I have no real middle or last name because I'm your alter ego. Of course you probably didn't need to know that now."

Once again, I was speechless. I was these peoples'… captive momentarily, and they were telling me their secret identities for no reason (well at least one person was). They were heroes of New York; why would they tell me their secret identities?

But Alter- no, Scout continued. "Well since I've already told you I might as well explain. I'm what am known as a Shadow Alter Ego, or a SAE. SAEs are normally the exact opposite of their "real person" and follow them around like shadows because they can't separate from their human. But it's not like we aren't real people ourselves; we have thoughts and feelings. Though some I guess would be quieter than others due do their real person's personality and all that. Any who, I guess we're sort of like your conscious in a way then because we're always there. But as far as I know, no SAE has ever been an animal an-"

"Would you please get to the damn point?" I asked flatly, trying not to yell, _shut the hell up_, at the girl. But that was what I was trying to basically convey. I didn't have much patience stored up at the moment.

"Oops, sorry. Anyway, I'm a mirror image of you, more or less. But, in a mirrorverse sense, I'm also your opposite. You wear jeans, I wear shorts. You have one low ponytail; I have two pigtails that are higher up. Oh, and also, most SAEs don't ever leave the "shadow zone."

"Be more flippin' straight with me; I have no idea on half of what you're saying." That was I lie; I was currently right then clueless to all that she was saying.

"Here's what she's trying to convey," the boy with glasses and black, spiky hair said. "SAEs live in a place known as the "shadow zone" or "mirror world," where things are almost exact opposites of our world. They normally can see into our world while we can't see into theirs. The human that the SAE belongs to is the only human that SAE can communicate with because, well, it's _their _real human.

"But, every so often, an SAE can come out of the "shadow zone" but only if a few requirements are met first," the boy finished.

Then Scout continued yet again. "Specific requirements depend on the SAE. But most of them have to be able to find someone they care about…" Scout drifted off and stared into the distance a little. She twirled the tip of her hair, daydreaming.

"Not again," loathed the boy with the scarf.

"Again," said the boy with glasses. He reached his hand across and snapped his fingers in front of Scout. No reaction what so ever.

Something growled from the corner. "Scout, snap out of dream land." A streak of blue lightning flash across the room in front of Scout, making the SAE jerk out of "dream land."

I looked over to the shadows again to see two reptiles with gracefully arched wings step out of hiding. Dragons; they were dragons. One was a shiny jet black with blue stripes and pin-stripes covering its body; along with that and its sapphire blue eyes that were so intense, they almost glowed, somewhat like mine did.  
The other was black as well, but had clashing white splashes, and grey shades appeared where black and white mixed that made it look yin-yang like. It had strange eyes that shifted from yellow to scarlet in seconds, becoming auburn when the two colors clashed. It made the beast look very menacing.

"I thought dragons didn't exist," I said flatly, staring at the two beasts. Everyone in the room in turns and stared at me.

"You did not just say that," the tall, blond asked, clearly surprised.

"Well, it's kind of obvious she just did," Tony countered. "Besides, who does believes in dragons these days?" Tony turned to get a whole lot of dragon in his face.

"Don't tempt me," black 'n blue hissed.

"If you didn't notice, lizard, I am not afraid of you."

I rolled my eyes. The black and blue one was female and obviously aggressive on specific subjects. "I'm pretty sure we were going to introduce ourselves. And also explain why there are two hulking, supposed fictional reptiles not ten feet from me."

"Oh yeah," Fireheart said, as if he completely forgot the assignment. I mentally facepalmed.

"Well, you know Scout now," Fireheart said, pointing to Scout the Shadow Alter Ego who waved. "I'm Terrence, Terrence Stark. We're not related though. I mean you, me, and Stark." I didn't get what he said by, 'we're not related though.'

"The only one you're truly related to is Yu over there." Fir-Terrence nodded over to the kid with orangey hair and bright ocean blue eyes.

"Hi Cous', name's Yu. Like I said earlier, welcome back from the land of the dead!" sang Ice-Yu. He had a voice that reminded me of a songbird.

"Cous'?" I asked.

"Cousin."

"Ah." I decided I liked him. I probed slightly into the minds of each person that would talk to see if their words matched their thoughts; they did and everyone continued.

A new voice spoke up. "With the main cast out of the way now, us four are to be introduced I guess," the blue haired girl said formally. She had on a red jacket over a dark evergreen shirt, an army weapons belt, somewhat short denim shorts, and black combat boots. Her hair was spiked and pixie like. "I'm Harper."  
"And I'm Kenton, the strongest," boasted the boy with the green trench coat. He had spiked black hair that stood high above his head, emerald eyes, fang like canines, a black shirt under the trench coat, long dark khaki pants that reached his dark brown loafers. Harper rolled her eyes at his comment.  
"Pfft! Yeah right!" laughed the boy with the white scarf. "Joyceann, I'm Griffin, and you and I are really the strongest." He had long spiked hair as well, but it was red instead of black. He had a distinct horizontal nose strip on his face and friendly blue eyes. He, of course, had a white scarf covering the collar of his blue jacket, a dark blue shirt, dark jeans, and a pair of red and white sneakers.  
The boy with glasses merely glared at his comrades with a look that said, 'really guys? Now?' He sighed. "Obviously, you two need to shut up and let _me_ talk. Joyceann, my name is Marcus; pleased to see you again." Marcus had black spiky hair outlined with white (I was starting to see a pattern in the boys) and one red bang. He had a green jacket, black and white shorts and shoes.  
Then there's the fact that all of them had fingerless gloves. It's weird what things I notice.

So there was Terrence, Scout, Yu, Harper, Kenton, Griffin, and Marcus. All were sprouting wings, I might add. Each were different and unique, like an artist took their time to perfectly get the colors right.

"And Nile," Scout interjected. "There's also Nile; but he isn't here now." I mentally sighed. _Everyone is an interrupting comedian_, I thought. _And telepathic, too, apparently_. The blonde with the red cape cleared his throat and fidgeted as Scout continued on motor mouthing. "We're a team known as the Storm Tamers and you're our leader. Do you remember that; who am I kidding, you don't…"  
_For Odin's sake, let me have a moment to speak!_ Cape guy thought.

"Mister Cape," I said, feeling a little edgy. "Proceed with your thoughts." The dude in the cape nodded, obviously used to getting his mind read. Scout pouted on being interrupted.

"I am Thor Odinson, son of Odin, prince of Asgard," Thor said regally.

"Since we're being all formal and all," Tony Stark/Iron Man spoke up. "I'm Anthony Stark, Tony for short and for obvious reasons; as well as a genius, billionaire, philanthropist."

I nodded. "Iron Man."

"Well if you won't take time to introduce me, I will do it myself." Ms. Black and Blue was sitting out of the shadows now

"I am Lokiet, the Dragon of Thunder on which you bonded with; we've protect each other from harm. You have been my friend for many years." Lokiet had a regal class to her look now, not an aggressive demeanor that had sparked when Stark seemed too had insulted her.  
"And I," said the yin-yang colored dragon, "am Shadowstar. I'm the Dragon of Shadows. I am bonded with Terrence. He too has been good companion to me as well. And isn't annoying as you and-." The last comment earned him a thwack in the head via Lokiet.

"I don't want to sound rude, but aren't you two," I said gesturing to Lokiet and Shadowstar. "An extinct species?" Thinking I was going crazy, I thought I had heard some sort of a snort like laugh outside the med bay doors, like someone was holding back a laugh.

"Yeah we get that a lot," Lokiet, I think, blushed. "Whenever either of us is seen, most of the time we terrorize New York citizens."

"Why would we be extinct?" asked Shadowstar curiously.

I looked up in thought for a moment. "Bible," I said simply. Not only that, I loved learning about the lore of other cultures. I continued my questions with, "Not to mention you just said you 'bonded', what the heck does that mean?"

"Um, it's a long story that we'll explain later," Lokiet finished, clearly wanting to steer clear of that subject for now.

A thought then accrued to me then. _Loki...et. Why would she be named after _**_that_**_ creep_? I thought. It sparked an ember of hatred and I felt it expand tremendously.

"Funny you should think that. She actually named herself that; when she was a chose her name. You helped and it's in honor of…" Yu laughed weakly as he wandered off at the end. What? Hatchling? Me? The words confused me to no extent. It wasn't the words themselves though; it was how they were being used.  
It just couldn't be. I lived on the streets for as long as I can remember, surviving only with my music, wits, and help from NYC's children care program. Well, mutant, technically; if you want to get all politically correct. So how on Earth, am I supposed to believe them? The man with the eye patch chose right then to leave. A glimpse of the outside world showed a few grey walls, and that was it.

"I have two problems right now," I stated. "Let me clue you in. One," I raised my pointer finger. "If you hadn't noticed, I've just woken up, only to find a band of crazies. I don't know where I am, who you people are, or if you can be even trust. I've been on the streets for a year now and I know I haven't met any of you before. I KNOW I'm not in your wak-o fantasy club with giant robots, dragons, superheroes, and playboy geniuses." I glance at Mr. Stark "No offence, Tony."

"None taken." Something about him saying that calmed me; but the calm feeling was quickly replaced with a sudden and unexpected anger towards Loki.

"Two: by the sounds of it, you're all expecting me to just wake up and say, 'Oh my gosh, my friends; how are you?!' Well guess what?" I paused, waiting for response. When I didn't receive one, I continued. "Well, I guess since none of you can come up with an answer, I'll tell you. You're all acting like you've known me my whole life! Heck, it's Loki all over again! And seriously, I've never seen a dragon before in my entire life." My voice, I noticed, was rising steadily threw out my rant. "So, I didn't name that poor creature after a psycho freak that attacked New York-" I paused suddenly. New York. What had happened to my city? I knew this was no New York; this was a basement.

I turned to Terrence and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You; what did you say about me a coma. H-how long was I in that. IF you're telling the truth." A harshness fell over my voice like nails on a chalk board.

His fiery amber eyes strayed to the door a little. He didn't look very compelled to tell me anything.

"You have been in a coma," He stated a bit too gravely. "But you woke up to day. That's what matters."

I scowled and snarled, "You're drifting from the subject."

"Huuh… Fine. You want to know?"

"Yes."

Terrence hesitated. Then, "You've been asleep over a year."

For those reading this story;

Hey it DCoL again! Chapter four; finally I'm done!

This chapter is extremely detailed and I know Nick Fury doesn't introduce himself in this chapter like everyone else did. That's next chapter. But none the less, Joyce will get to know Nick-o the Pirate.

I want to say this right now and get it out of my system: Terrence, Yu, Harper, Kenton, Griffin, and Marcus and Nile don't belong to me. They actually belong to whoever created them in Beyblade Metal Masters/Fusion. Terrence is Tsubasa, Yu is, well, Yu, Kenton is Kyoya, Harper is Hikaru, Griffin is Ginga, Marcus is Masamune, and Nile stays Nile. There are going to be a few differences between the Bey versions and mine so keep your eyes peeled. And I now know you're thinking, "This is going to have Beyblade too?!" And my answer is no. I've just been on those characters for so long that they haven't left my mind. Go figure!

Another thing is my chapter names; each is named after a song or is a bunch of song lyrics. I'd like for you reader to guess the song names. I'll reveal them all at the end,

On another note, I'm still glad to be writing this and you reading it. So thank you!


	5. Chapter 5: I Know The Truth

Life Notes of the Adopted Daughter of Tony Stark

By Dragon-Child of Lightning

Chapter 5: I Know The Truth

Bumblebee's was bot of few words; literally since he couldn't actually talk. But he was still the human equivalent of a young man in his early twenties. So guess where his head and processor were maturity wise? He wanted to be able to talk normally so bad and yell his true feelings without a radio to get in the way. So his maturity allowed him to merely pout.  
And instead of just pouting, currently Bee was hovering nearby the Med Bay doors, looking at them like he wanted to rip apart the steel that separated him from his best human friend. He vented slightly, tuning his radio to make it emit a noise that sounded like WALLI.E sighing. Optimus, who stood to the right of him, said nothing and continued to stare at the doors with patience.

If you couldn't guess, Bumblebee couldn't stand waiting. Joyceann, his friend, the first human he truly met when he came here to Earth, was finally back. From where, he couldn't really say; he wasn't human. He didn't really dream or sleeps like a human. He recharged instead. Joyce had told him he had an imagination of his own; even though he wasn't human, or even a normal Autobot. She always said he had "creativity and brains." He honestly didn't quite understand what Joyceann ever meant, but he would take her word for it until he did; and that could take another millennia.

Bee was currently not just aggravated about being just kicked out of the Med bay so quickly; he was also beating himself up mentally for scaring his human friend. It truly hurt Bee when Joyceann screamed like that; like she was not in a safe place with safe people. Bee pinched where the bridge of where his nose would be. Waiting; not his best strong suit (just as Ironhide's worst suit was tolerance and patience). Bumblebee honestly wanted to just rip the Primus damned metal doors wide open. But of course Fury _and_ Optimus would both be pissed at him. Not to mention, his commander was standing outside the doors as well, waiting for Director Fury.

_Damn_, he thought, finally walking away and leaving his commander's side, going wherever his feet decided to lead him. _Out of all the bots that had to scare the scrape out of her, why was it me? Why couldn't have been Hide or Sides?_

The place he found himself in when he looked up from the floor was the monitoring room. Everyone who had been kicked out of the Med bay was there, including the Autobots (minus Bee, who of course just walked in, and Optimus). The A.I.T.s had their masks off as the Avengers (minus two) made friendly chatter with them. Ratchet spoke softly to Ironhide, Jazz, and Prowl and Agents Barton and Romanoff as if he was in a library.

"Look who finally came in," smiled Spider Man, or Peter Parker as he was now. "So did you shoot the doors down?" Pete knew the answer from watching the feed though.

Bee shook his head and, looking for a perfect radio broadcast, he replied, **"Considered it though."**

"Right on ya mate," said a voice behind Bee. It was Crosshairs, the lively, green paratrooper Corvette. "Considering on just kicking down doors is fun enough as it is; imaging how to do it is the juicy bit though." If the green Autobot had teeth, he would have flashed them along with his beaming smile. Behind him were Mirage and Hound. Like Crosshairs, Hound and another Autobot going by the name Drift had arrived just as after the Battle of Chicago. Since they'd just missed the fight, they, along with everyone else, were immediately shipped to a base in Michigan so no one would randomly attack them as if they were a threat. The three, still in protoform stage, were given simple designs at first; Hound was a green Jeep, Drift an Acura, and Crosshairs was a Black Dodge truck (which didn't suit him whatsoever).  
Unfortunately, the Wreckers, being the Wreckers, needed more room to "romp around." So, they were moved, along with everyone else, to rural Canada. Once Canada was reached, NEST had three special vehicles shipped in for the three 'Earth Newbies'. The reunion of friends made it all worthwhile though; the aggravating moving, the fifteen transcans (well approximately fifteen) each 'bot had to do so they wouldn't be recognized, it was all worth it. In the end, Mirage and Hound, who were an espionage team, were glad to see each other again. Hound commented on how Mirage looked like a sunburn in his new form (which Hound had recently found out about). Mirage, Sideswipe, Ratchet, and everyone else soon were given new forms to take (thanks to Joyceann and her artistry skills). Now Mirage looked like himself again; he was a gorgeous combination of blue and white.

Sideswipe's twin brother's location was still unknown and many more were still not answering Optimus' calls into space. It worried everyone. But today wasn't a day to worry about unfindable allies; it was a time to worry about a clueless one.

"There is no need to consider breaking down anything," Prowl stated.

Bumblebee hung his head, still in a gloom about his mistakes. He vented air again.

"Cheer up, lad," interjected an Italian sounding accent. It was Mirage. He clapped Bee on the back to reassure him. "Remember; Wheeljack, Ratchet, and a whole bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists are working on that MSD thing. We'll have 'er back in no time." Bee's eyes smiled. Mirage could be optimistic as he was cynical. But he did always know how to get his friend's spirits back up in a hard time. Especially now.

"**I just wish**… '_Oh how I wish'_…" Bee broadcasted.

"We all knew she was going to be a pain in the aft when she woke up; being all skeptical. It's one of her best attributes," Hound shrugged, then added; "I hope ol' Jack doesn't screw up this idea of his and blow up that MSD thingy; Ratch and the Squishies have been working so hard on it." Squishies was the pet name Hound and Crosshairs had given the humans.

MSD was short for Memory Sorting Device; the idea was that it was going to help Joyceann recover her memories by stimulating her mind. But, due to Wheeljack's (an Autobot scientist) checkered past when it came to success, everyone was just hoping it wouldn't explode in their hands or face if they were to hold it. Not that it won't in the end. But 'Raj and Hound were right. Both of their optimism kind of helped Bee's gloominess, but the feeling of being passed over was still on Bee's processor.

"Being all downsparked isn't going to help, ya know?" approached a female voice. Bumblebee cocked his head to the doorway again to see Star Prime, his metaphorical mom, as Joyceann had called her. She was the only other Prime known to be alive; not to mention the only female Prime known to have lived.

Star Prime's original name was Starstream and is the older twin sister of Starscream and older sister to Scarlet (Scar for short; she was a former space pirate for a Decepticon named Captain Sullivan). Star Prime's creator was Sentinel Prime. Star, shocked at the fact her father would make a deal with Megatron, disowned her creator though. Even though Sentinel tried to convince both of Optimus and Star to join him in making humanity a slave force, the former Prime failed in doing so; thus, leading to his demise. Even before the Battle of Chicago, Star was an unknown ally in-between the time-period when the Bots first came and to the time of The Fallen. Star Prime arrived right before NEST was founded so her presence wasn't detected by any sensors that are around now. She stayed hidden so The Fallen would believe her dead so she could kick his aft-end while Optimus recovered from his death. After that, Star had been with the Autobots and NEST ever since. She is a wise leader with a sassy attitude, scars, and experiences of her own to share with her friends.

She rested a hand on Bumblebee's shoulder, crouching a little to be eye-level with him. She understood him; knew what he tried to say even when he didn't talk. There was no need for the telepathic powers that Joyceann had.

"You KNOW, she'll remember; even without that gadget. And you also know she'll forgive you for scaring her. It was an accident," Star protested softly as she smiled a bit maniacally. "And, we all know that little device of Jack's will explode in the end; that's scarier than anything on this planet."

"HEY! I'm not _that_ big of a failure!" hollered a voice coming inside the room.

"Well speak of the devil," Ironhide grunted.

Wheeljack stomped into the room. He was passing by when his sensitive audios had picked up Star poking fun at him.

"Why, for Primus sake, does everyone always just assume that I'll make something, for it only to blow up?! I'm more careful then that!" Wheeljack said, waving his hands about as if there were flies around his head. His 'fins', so to speak, came to life and flashed a violent red.

"Maybe because it's true," Natasha deadpanned. Wheeljack's fins lit up an almost blinding white out of shock.

"Not always," defended Jazz, turning away from a monitor. "Before the Spark Massacre, you always knew how to appease Hide's love of weaponry." (I, dear reader, will of course explain what the Spark Massacre is later; just as Halcyon will).

"Thank you!" Jack praised. "Besides, failure is a good thing sometimes; it shows where one can improve." Jack pushed a bot sized button on a panel used by the Transformers and a black and white picture of a long dead man appeared. "Does anybody remember Thomas Edison?"

"Why are you guys even talking about a guy who's been dead for 100 years?" complained Nova, also known as Sam Alexandria. Currently, his helmet was being spun on his finger lazily like it was a halo.

"It's a reference, Sam. And if you actually paid attention in school, you'd know that he died about 82 years ago in 1931 and redesigned the light bulb. It took him forever, but he found a way to improve the light bulb greatly," lectured Ava Ayala, the White Tiger; she is the most disciplined of the A.I.T.s., so of course she would know these things.

"On the bright side, he at least didn't think Thomas E. was some rapper," Spider-Man said, sitting on a nearby "wall" that just so happened to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. jumbotron like monitor (Power Man, or Luke Cage, snickered and tried to cover his mouth to hide it). Unfortunately, this monitor was tuned to the Daily Bugle's station (yes even S.H.I.E.L.D. needs a little help from an outside source like the Bugle for help). And whenever the Bugle was on, one ever bothersome reporter had one specific subject he liked to rant on about no matter what other (and more important) news there are out in the world.

"SPIDER-MAN NEED'S TO BE RELOCATED AND GOTTEN RID OF FROM MANHATTAN, NO, NEW YORK!" boomed the ever annoying James Jones Jamison, J.J.J. for short, from the jumbotron. Spidy, startled, slipped off his ten foot high perch and sailed through the air, landing squarely on his face.

"Doesn't that guy have a job to tell Midtown news other than about me?" Spidy asked, clearly in pain from landing on his face; and with now no mask, his bloody nose was obvious.

"Hey, if the shoe fits, wear it web-head," Nova concluded.

Peter glared at Sam. "So what if he turned his attention on you, Bucket Head? Would you call your mommy?" The other A.I.T.s smirked and tried to hold in laughs. Sam sulked.  
Not that a change in J.J.'s targets would bug any of them; he had a problem with everyone, especially Spider-Man and Hulk (who, as a human, related well with Peter). Bumblebee never really could guess why J.J. seemed to hate everyone; so he concluded that J.J. was just really slagged in the head.

"OK boys; let's save the taunts for the villains," Natasha said simply.

Clint Barton, who had been quiet till then, added, "If you two have too much energy stored up, take it out on training; not here with all the expensive equipment."

"Sir, yes sir!" Pete joked. Ava rolled her eyes and Prowl pinched his brow, shaking his head. Jazz snickered and Bee would've smiled if he could've. Star conveyed his smile for him though.

"I honestly believe now is a time to wait, not take unneeded action. Joyceann is our family and no matter how long it takes her to do anything, we'll have to be there for her and catch her," stated Danny Rand, or Iron Fist.

"Aww, how romantic Rand," Crosshairs teased.

"You got a crush?" Hound asked, taking his 'cigar' out of his mouth.

Danny gave a look that would've killed. "And is she not your family as well as mine?"

"Touché," Crosshairs smiled.

If every guy that had ever met Joyceann could say it aloud, they would all say they had a slight crush on Joyceann. Of course, each crush was a little different; some had high levels of admiration, others found her cute. And there were a few who truly were crushing hard. Danny was not one of those 'crushing hard' boys. He merely looked up to Joyce and all her wisdom (even though technically, the world saw her as being younger then him). She was either big or little sister.

Bumblebee's spark started to lift again at the sight of his friends' joyful nature; Star smiled and took her hand off Bee's shoulder. She nodded, still smiling. The femme pivoted around to leave, stopping instantly when Nick and Optimus walked in the room at the same time. Star clicked her heels and saluted the two leaders.

"Sirs," Star Prime barked in attention. The others in the room looked to the door as well, either nodding or saluting. Optimus nodded curtly to his second. The two leaders departed and one went to talk with his agents while the other started conversing with his SIC.

"She's still a doubting Thomas," Star whispered to her friend.

"As she should be," Optimus said back.

"You stood out there waiting for Fury; what did you hear?"

"Well, when Joyceann said she thought dragons were extinct, I may have snorted a bit. And I think they all heard it too."

"You? Laugh?"

"Believe it or not I did."

Star paused in thought then said, "It's been a long time since you've laughed about anything Optimus; I miss those days. When we were all together and friends, when Screamer was still a wimpy nerd, when Megs still had that obvious crush on me that I threw right back in his face every time he, 'declared his love.'"

"Those were indeed the days," vented Optimus.

Meanwhile down below, Nick explained the situation to the others.

"…and if the 'Fallen Angel' is going to remember anything, all of us, and I mean all of us," Fury gave a look to Sam who replied with a look that said, 'who, me?' "Are going to help her. She is truly our best asset with all the enemies Earth now has; space aliens like the Chitauri, Decepticons, and home bound villains like Doctor Doom and Shadow are just to name a few. When the 'Fallen Angel' does remember finally all of her past though… be prepared for her dumbfounded shock."

"Do Epps, Lennox, and former Agent Simmons know about Joyce's return?" Steve Rodgers asked.

"Not at the moment Captain, but we will inform the promptly."

"Ya better; they're with us as allies. Unlike those bastards that stole the Witwicky's girl Carly," Mirage interjected. Star raised her eye ridge under her visor; Mirage was normally a very polite mech who didn't swear or curse. So, it was basically a surprise to her.

"'_Heck yeah!'"_ Bee aired, using the ending of the "We Got The Beat" done by Debby Ryan.

"OK then. No need to push the subject any further. The 'Fallen Angel' is still as useless as if she was just born today. I mean being clueless and all," Fury finished.

"She has a name you know, Director Fury," Ratchet stated.

"I am well aware of that."

"Well then use it," Jazz commanded.

"I don't take orders from-"

"All right we get it," intruded Bruce Banner. "Now please be quiet. I can't hear the conversation if you're all talking at once."

This turned everyone's attention to the monitor Bruce was facing and watched as things continued to play out. Bee noticed the wings of Shadowstar and Lokiet flutter every so often into the camera's line of sight. Thor's face stayed cement and Tony's eyes betrayed his fear; fear of what, Bumblebee could only guess it was for Joyceann.

The scout turned to his two leaders for a reaction and saw Optimus' grim faceplate and eyes and Star's visor stayed blank. There was no way these two were going to give any reaction away.

But as soon as Bee turned back to face the monitor, his wing like door panels sagged along with his hope when he saw Joyceann's eyes as they said everything that there was to say: I don't believe you.

And that's what it took to break the scout's spirit.

* * *

Disbelief and shock; those two feelings overwhelmed me at first. But I gave a cocky smile to hide my alarm and said, "Yeah, and my name is Camellia von Matthews. Tell the truth, what happened to me?"

"You heard me right and I'm not playing any tricks. You have been in a coma for over a year." Terrence sat there and stared into my eyes as I shot daggers into his.

As if it wasn't hard enough, I knew Fire T or whatever I was going to call him, was tell the truth; his mind was indeed wide open. He held no amount of information back. Data seemed to be pouring into my brain as the short staring contest commenced, and just as quickly as it started, it ended as well. I knew the truth.

"H-h-how is that even possible? I've heard of people being in a coma for a month or so, but, a year or longer? That's-that's insane. I would've been considered, 'unsalvageable' by then and taken of off life support or whatever I was on." I concluded. My hands shook slightly from adrenaline and surprise.

"Why would we give up on you so easily?" Thor enquired. His cement like face broke into an amazed look.

"I just don't accept it as true," I stated.

"Well believe it," Tony Stark sighed unexpectedly. A few seconds that felt like ages crept by.

Have you ever got that feeling where you want to disappear or sink into the floor? That's how I felt. Only difference between me and thinking of doing it is that I can really do it. Both that is. But I stayed within sight and let all my weight crash upon bed.

"This is impossible," I whispered, covering my face with my hands.

"Nothing is impossible," Lokiet purred. I groaned, knowing she was right.

Terrence hopped off the bed suddenly, saying, "I'll give you a moment to process."

_What's there to process?_ I thought.

What in the name of God had I gotten myself into? My head was reeling in memories and flashbacks and they wouldn't stop rushing me. This all started in an ally, even before Loki, the Battle of New York, and definitely before I knew about myself. I sighed, then took a deep breath, and breathed evenly.

This situation was too Deja vu.

* * *

_**Flashback…**_

_I remember waking up in a long dark alley; very much like the one that now stored my hidden gear. Looking up, I saw a cloudy, black sky. Thunder dared to call out after lightning summoned it. A storm was coming. _  
_I hurt everywhere, especially in my back and chest and I didn't know why. I didn't remember coming here. Heck, I didn't remember anything to the point of fluttering open my eyes. So now I am clueless of my where bouts._

_Great._

_Sitting up with shaking arms, I saw I was in a back ally, too dark to see clearly enough; well it would've been if there wasn't a neon pink styling sign for a club to light the ally that is. My head felt both solid and like liquid at the same time. I closed my eyes again, cradling my head. Sitting up crisscross, I steadied my head, opening my eyes again to find no spots dancing before my eyes. With a better perspective, I saw the ally's only light source wasn't the styling sign; in fact the opening in front of me showed bright city lights._  
_I heard sirens, horns, bells, whistles, and people. The light part was very loud. I knew it was a city; I didn't know why, but I knew it was. My mouth hung only slightly as I took in the light a little more. _

_I tried to stand up, falling on my butt instead. It hurt; pain shot up threw my spine and for a second, I couldn't feel anything below my waist. The pain went away quickly, though and feeling returned to my limbs. Trying to stand again, I almost fell once more. A brick wall caught me though; apparently I didn't wake up in the exact middle of the ally. Putting my weight onto the wall, I moved slowly towards the ally's gaping opening.  
A few things whisked through my mind as I slowly stepped toward the light. Who was I? What was I? Am I considered good or bad? Who's my family and friends? And how did I end up in an alley? _

_And then the end of the wall was reached. I knew to stop walking thankfully; otherwise I would've been flattened by a taxi that flew by, the yellow car's force almost pulling me along with it. Steadying, I got a first glance of the city I was in. After a moment taken to register my surroundings, my eyes felt like they grew to the size of dinner plates. I was in New York; Manhattan, New York. Home of the freaks, the weirdoes, and the infamous of the world. The heroes, in other words. And the villain of course. _

_I immediately relaxed. Manhattan was safest and scariest place to be. Heroes and super-villains roamed the streets like ants on a sidewalk. So, I didn't really know whether to feel safe or terrified. (Funny thing is, I remembered half the heroes' names, but I couldn't remember my own. Funny how things work)._

_Just as I calmed, deciding to take a composed route and feel benign, a Dodge Charger police car raced by. Its lights blazed past as another car, a Pontiac Solstice with a red and blue stripe and a white four on its hood, caught up behind it. They sped by in a flash. It was cold out and the extra wind didn't help my shivering. But, even against my want to just flop down and give up on, whatever goal I was going for, I set out down the block. I didn't know why, I just had a feeling the get moving and stay moving; don't stop._

_Moving wasn't really a problem for me, it was the cold. As I said before, I was shivering. Moving actually made things better body heat wise. New York, I remembered, was further up north then say somewhere like Florida or Georgia. I kept my head down, trying to keep my warm breath close to my body. I might have sneezed a few times; I forget. _

_Upon looking up, I saw the two police cars that had raced by had stopped a block away, near an old, abandoned apartment building. Their lights were still on but they seemed dimmer somehow. Outside of the abandoned building was a small child with dirty blonde hair and… a robot? This robot was taller than the human girl; about seven feet tall. They didn't look scared of the police coming for them; they actually looked calm and glad to see them._

_Shaking my head in confusion, I looked over across the street to try to get the weird image of the deformed looking robot out of my head. I saw a store window; and not only could I see the window, I could see it as clearly as if I was right next to it. I stopped everything running in my head and just stared._

_In the window, as if looking in a mirror, I something; __someone.__ I saw a girl with hip length silver and blonde hair with just as long side bangs, the tips a faded black. My regular bangs were side swept from my face. I saw a girl in a plaid violet sleeveless shirt, raven colored jeans, and sleek, shiny onyx boots. I saw a girl with vivid, bright sapphire eyes; so bright you could mistake them for small lights. A long, drab coat went from shoulders to the floor, flowing beautifully. _

_I just kept staring at the girl in the window for what felt like hours. That girl was… me. I was… stunning. I wanted to just stare at myself, wanting to just make sure it wasn't some joke, wanting to make sure it really was me. But of course, I snapped back to reality; by the police officers talking to girl and 'bot of all things._

_"Why were you two out here at this hour anyway? Calypso, you're supposed to be back at base. You know that we need to stay as hidden as possible from the humans."_

_"But we weren't doing anything! We just called for help. And I'm a Pretender, Prowl. I think I blend in better than the both of you slaggers."_

_"Yeah and this 'human' right here is somewhat insulted now."_

_I glanced back, still wanting to stare at my reflection. But my glance turned into a stare when I saw who was talking. Instead of the Charger and the Pontiac, they both had been replaced by two giant, sentient robots. What was the Charger was now a very tall, dignified looking black and white robot; and the Pontiac had turned into a sleek silver one that was much shorter, a visor where its eyes (optics?) should've been. The black and white one was reprimanding the child and the smaller robot for being out this late and being away from base like they were, well, children._

_I don't know how, but they seemed all too familiar. And I mean all four of them. _

_"So, why did you two trouble makers even call us out here?" The sleek number four asked with a small smile. His arms were crossed over his chest as he took on a very lax state. _

_"I sensed Energon levels off the roof; metaphorically and literally. Melony refused to go up though," the deformed bot whose apparent name was Calypso complained._

_"So you thought calling us would help? If there was something going off in your head, shouldn't you have gone up there and force Mel into going? You're, well, you; she's safe." _

_"Well…" _

_"That doesn't matter," the Charger snapped sharply, obviously annoyed. "If you sensed strange Energon signals, why didn't contact us earlier? Or as he said," the Charger gestured to the Solstice, "why didn't you contact us?"_

_"Weird frequencies were being thrown out; it was scattering everything electronic within a hundred mile radius. I couldn't reach you even if I wanted to," Calypso simply stated, like it was already obvious. "And as I said, Mel was being an aft and refused to go."_

_"HEY!" the human child named Melony barked irately. _

_"You can pick her up and carry her," Jazz implied, moving his hands as if he was moving a box. Calypso didn't respond after that._

_"If you're ever in trouble like that again, Lennox will put three of us in the dump and Melony won't see the light of day again."_

_"We weren't in trouble Jazz."_

_"Well Lennox will still put our heads on a stake like some Native American. Lennox is crazy._

_"Let's not have that happen; please," Melony agreed. __(She wasn't scared of her father, dear reader. No, Melony was scared for her robotic friends and what her father would do to them)._

_"But there wasn't any trouble, for Primus sake," huffed Calypso angrily. _

_The four kept talking (arguing) about stuff I was pretty vague about: S.H.I.E.L.D., NEST, a guy apparently named Lennox, Fury's fury, and a lot of other stuff._

_I must have stood there for at least five more minutes. I was actually very surprised that none of them had taken notice me yet; I stood there as quietly as possible, not wanting to call attention to myself. Well, that was until I sneezed. I must have had a cold (or someone was talking about me). But that's not what got their attention. The sneeze, actually, was quite quiet and small. What got their attention was me groaning in pain after the sneeze: my chest felt like it was concaving into a minor heart attack. _

_The four of them turned to see me. Three sets of eyes (optics) and a visor landed on me. _Oh crap_, I thought._

"_Huh. What do ya know," Calypso said simply. Her calm nature didn't betray any surprise of seeing me. _

_"What are you doing here?" Demanded the already fuming Charger. _

_"I, uh, was just, uh…" I stammered._

"_Answer young human!"_

_"Gees Prowl lay off. It's just a human. Stop flipping out so easi-" number four abruptly stopped. The blue-visor bot cocked from the Charger named Prowl back to me; starring, what felt like, into my soul. _  
_"Wait, why am I getting an energy signal from you?" He turned to Calypso. "Were these the energy signatures you had before?"_

_The short femme nodded._

_The Solstice turned back to me, and, I swear, was squinting at me, as if he was trying to get a better look at me. Then he said, "Am I going crazy or- NO WAY! Prowl!" the Pontiac grabbed the Charger by its shoulders. "IT'S JOYCEANN!"_

_"Who?"_

_"JOYCE! Ya' know, Miss Resurrection, the 'Fallen Angel'!? She just went missing you slagger!" Number four was shaking Prowl like crazy. Prowl just ripped away from four and gave him a look._

_Prowl knitted his brow in thought and then chirped, "Oh wait; right, now I remember," Prowl walked over to a still shaking me, from both fear and the cold, bringing his face to my level. "Are you Joyceann Brokenheart Stark, Thunder Meister of the Storm Tamers?"_

_Behind the lead, Melony, Calypso, and #4 seem to hold their breath in anticipation to what I would say._

_Still being stared at, my azure eyes were locked on Prowl's calm optics, his face emotionless. But his eyes betrayed his curiosity. But instead of answering, a very common instinct came and I answered full heartedly; I turned, and bolted._

* * *

Author's Note

Hello yet again! I know you people have questions like, 'how are Jazz and Ironhide back?' and 'why are the AOE (TF4) characters coming in so early?' Patients my students; it shall be revealed.  
I've honestly had an idea on how things happened after DOTM (TF3) long before I saw the first AOE ad. So yeah. There's that answer.  
In conclusion, I do hope to continue real soon.

LOVE YOU PEOPLE,  
DCoL

P.S. Joyce sneezes because someone (cough, Jazz, cough) is indeed talking about her. :3


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